“Did you remember to bring their lead ropes back?” Jayden asked.

All three held them up for her to see, then hung them on the appropriate nails.

“Good for you,” Jayden said. “Now the donkeys.”

“There’s only two of them and three of us,” Tiffany said. “Can I start shoveling shi—I mean crap . . . instead of taking one of the donkeys to the corral?”

“Something tells me that it’ll take more than a little sweet-talking to get those critters to the corral,” Jayden answered. “Try the first one before you make plans to grab those shovels.”

Tiffany popped her hands on her hips. “What makes you a donkey expert?”

“My grandfather was a farmer. He kept a donkey in the pasture to keep the coyotes away from his calves,” Jayden answered.

“What’s coyotes got to do with baby cows?” Carmella asked.

“They kill and eat them, but donkeys are their enemies, so it’s wise to have one around. They’re a little more temperamental than horses, though,” Jayden answered, “and they kick, so I wouldn’t get behind one.”

“You’re shi—” Carmella stopped short of saying a word that would get her in trouble. “You’re jokin’, right? Did you ever see a coyote eat a baby calf?”

“No, but I saw a miniature donkey that Gramps called Waylon stomp the crap out of a coyote, and then Gramps hung its dead carcass on the barbed wire fence,” Jayden answered.

“That’s gross,” Tiffany said. “Why would he do that?”

“To show the other coyotes what they’d get if they went after one of his calves,” Jayden replied. She had forgotten all about that experience until that moment. She had been so angry with that coyote for trying to kill a calf that she didn’t care if Waylon killed it. When she told Skyler about it later that day, her sister had put her hands over her ears and made la-la-la noises to keep from hearing any more. That was one of the few times that she felt like she could do something that Skyler couldn’t.

“Will you help us, Ashlyn?” Tiffany’s voice quivered a little.

“I barely got my horse out to the corral. I don’t know jack crap about donkeys,” Ashlyn whispered. “This is going to have to be a joint effort. Jayden, do we pet them or just snap the lead rope on and hope they follow?”

“Trial and error would be my guess,” Jayden answered.

“Okay, Tiffany, you open the gate. Carmella, you grab the lead rope and snap it on, and then hand it to me,” Ashlyn said.

At least they were working as a team, even if it was just getting a rope on a spotted donkey named Elvis. In one fell swoop they each did their job, and the donkey had a rope on his halter. He took a step out of the stall, nudged her with his head, and when Ashlyn reached up to pet him, he licked her hand.

“Looks like you made one friend here,” Jayden laughed.

Elvis shook his head and started for the door, dragging his lead rope the whole way. Ashlyn ran ahead of him and quickly unhooked the rope about the time that Henry came back into the barn.

“I came to get the donkeys and put them back out in the pasture,” he said. “Elijah just saw a pack of coyotes roaming, so it’s time for Elvis and Sam to earn their living.” He opened Sam’s stall and the donkey came right out. Henry removed the bridle and the animal followed him to the stock trailer and climbed inside. He gave a shrill whistle that would rival the siren that went off several times a day, and Elvis bolted through the door and got into the trailer, too.

“They ain’t nothing but a couple of pets,” Henry chuckled. “Y’all have fun with the cleaning now. See you at dinnertime.”

“I guess that means I only have to walk the three horses this afternoon, then?” Ashlyn asked.

“Looks like it,” Jayden told her. “Things change by the minute on a farm, but every single day you aren’t needed somewhere else, that’s your job.”

“What’s mine?” Carmella eyed one of the three wheelbarrows. “Where do we put the stuff that we scoop up out of the stalls?”

“You’ll probably find a big pile at the end of the barn,” Jayden answered. “And it won’t smell good, so get ready for it.”

“Are you going to help us?” Tiffany asked.

“I’m supervising,” Jayden answered.

“What’s my job after dinner?” Carmella reached for the handles of the wheelbarrow and then jumped backward so fast that she almost fell. “There’s a spider in that thing. I hate spiders.”

“Seems like y’all hate lots of things,” Jayden said. “You loved picking up things that didn’t belong to you, so this afternoon you will begin a collection of bugs, insects, lizards, or whatever else you can find out here in this desert place.”

“I can’t do that,” Carmella argued. “Ashlyn is going to be walking horses, and that just leaves me to make sure Tiffany don’t puke up her dinner.”

“She’s going with you,” Jayden told her. “Since she likes taking pictures that she shouldn’t, she will be drawing a picture each day of a weed, a bug, or even the mountains off in the distance. Y’all can go with Ashlyn when she walks the horses and look for bugs, cactus plants, or anything else you can pick up, and Tiffany can draw. And no stick figures. All of your pictures will be displayed in the dining room so everyone can see them, so think about that when you’re drawing the spiders or butterflies.”

“What do I draw with?” Tiffany asked. “And do I really have to walk that mile again in the hot sun?”

“Looks like it,” Jayden told her. “You will find a sketch pad in the cabin. Be sure to sharpen several pencils before you leave. And there’s a box to use for your critters, Carmella, along with a book on insects for this area so you don’t pick up a poisonous one.”

“I’m not touching a spider,” Carmella declared.

“Then don’t forget to take a pair of disposable plastic gloves with you. They’re in the kitchen,” Jayden told her.

Tiffany picked up a shovel and killed the spider. “I hate mice. You owe me now. If there’s a mouse in here or in our cabin, you have to get rid of it.”

“Snakes are what give me the willies,” Ashlyn admitted as she checked around the second wheelbarrow before she rolled it down the center aisle and into the last stall. “Y’all take care of those things, and I’ll help with the spiders and mice.”

Carmella threw all three shovels into her wheelbarrow and rolled them toward the stalls. “Is this going to be like hypnosis? Every time I see something that I want to shoplift, will I think of the smell of crap and urine?”

“Probably so,” Tiffany answered.

Jayden felt like giving herself a gold star. Her girls might still fuss and argue, but, by golly, they were at least going to kill spiders, snakes, and mice for each other. That was another step in the right direction. She couldn’t keep the smile off her face when she realized that she’d thought of them as her girls, and this was just the first official day of camp. They might not be lifelong friends at the end of eight weeks, but maybe they would at least learn the value of teamwork.