Double Trouble

Chapter 23

Mel's POV

I woke up at 5:30 A.M. and quickly pulled on black breaches, a Century Farms t-shirt, and my new fleece pullover. I pulled my hair into a high ponytail, and curled the tips to add a little cheer to myself. I put on a big red bow, and smiled at my reflection. Today was the annual Christmas Adoption Fair!

I hurried down the stairs, and ate some cereal for breakfast. I downed it, then slid my feet into my well-worn brown Ariat paddock boots. I skipped cheerily outside.

Even though it was dark outside, I could tell it would be a sunny day. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, and the air felt crisp and clean.

I entered the barn, and grabbed the black wheel barrow, and began mucking stalls. With good time, I had done 10 stalls already!

I hurried through the rest of the stalls, and when I only had 5 more to go, Liv showed up. I looked outside. The stun had started to rise. 

"Hey!" she said giddily.

"Hi! You ready for today?" I asked, and handed her a pitchfork.

"Yep," she said, and she helped me muck out the last few stalls. It went by fast since there were 2 of us.

We babbled on while we fed horses, and when we had finished, Cadee had arrived. She helped us groom all of the horses so they looked their bests.

When the horses were groomed, and there was only 1 hour until the fair started, Heather, Molly, Anna, Marie, Brooke, Clarissa, and all of the other volunteers had arrived, and Mom gave us a quick talk before we had to do last minute checks.

"So, today is the day! I want to thank you guys again for all of the work you've put into making this happen. I am so excited to see how your help has helped the horses today! So, I have all of the horses' info sheets in stacks in the arena, and that's where you will wait. If you see someone who needs assistance, go and help them immediately. Ask them about what they are looking in a horse, and then grab some of the horses that fits their description and show them to their stalls. Allow them to lead the horse around, groom them, and if they want to test ride them, they are allowed to, but they need to sign a waver and you have to supervise them. The wavers are on the far left table in the indoor ring. Remember, info sheets are on the far right table, wavers are on the far left, and the adoption forms are on the middle table. If someone wants to adopt a horse, tell them to pick up a sheet here and I will help them from there on. Does anyone have any questions?" she said.

No one did. We were all anxious and excited for the fair to start.

"Good. Now, there will be hot cocoa and snacks in the lounge, and Mr. Jones and my son Art will be helping with that. Oh! If there is anyone who doesn't want to adopt, but wants to make a donation, there are forms and envelopes next to the adoption sheets. Now, are you guys ready to help some horses?" Mom asked cheerily.

"Yeah!" we all shouted, and we all cheered and whooped.

"Good, because it looks like we have our first visitors right now," she said, and we all got into position. Some volunteers were outside, and some of us were inside. Me and my friends were helping people find possible horses that they may want to adopt.

I waited patiently for someone to come in. At first, only a few people trickled in, but they were all assisted right away. Finally, I saw a family that had a girl around my age, and a young girl who looked to be about 7. I walked up to them.

"Hello! My name is Mel, and welcome to Century Farms! Are you guys looking into adopting a horse today, or are you thinking about making a donation?" I asked with my sweetest voice.