Belle & Daegan

Black Bandana

The road trip was only an hour, but it was full of laughter and chatter. Olive said she wanted to paint a landscape, and Belle promised her that she would take her to a clearing a ways away from her farm. Qwin wanted to see the animals. Reed and Harissa wanted to explore.

They all complained about how Mrs. Henry had given them all homework over the four-day weekend.

"Like, why three chapters to read and take notes on?!" Reed complained loudly. "It's a break, for heaven's sake!"

"And Mr. Husky gave me three assignments for algebra!" Olive said angrily.

"It's like, to them, we don't have a life," said Qwin. "I do much more than read."

"Really? What else do you do?" asked Reed.

"If you knew, you'd laugh at me," Qwin said, wringing her hand nervously.

"Oh, come on, we wouldn't. We're besties."

"Girls, we're here!" called out Belle's mother, who was driving.

The green countryside was soon full of produce fields and barns. Belle saw Daegan and his father working on building a new fence. She remembered that they had started the week before, and their progress over one week was amazing. They had almost completed the entire perimeter around the house, the barn, the coop, and a small vegetable garden.

Daegan had his shirt off, and his chest was shiny with sweat. He had hard-packed abs.

Belle gazed at him, suddenly stricken for how handsome he looked.

Her mom pulled into the long, curving driveway, and stopped at the white wooden gate.

The girls unloaded their bags from the trunk, and set them on the dirt ground.

"Oh, I can smell the crisp country air! Without any car exhaust fumes, it smells so clear!" exclaimed Olive.

"Yeah," said Qwin quietly.

"It's kind of stinky," said Reed.

"Eh, I think we'll get used to it," said Harissa.

"Oh, you city girls," Belle taunted them.

"Hey!" Reed put her hands on her hips. Her hair was put up in two long braids, which swung around when she was indignant. "Come on, I'm not just a--" She stopped, and looked over Belle's shoulder.

"What?" She followed Reed's gaze, and saw Daegan hammering the fence. He now had his white shirt on, but it was drenched in sweat.

"Oooh...who's that?" she asked.

Belle's heart hammered. Reed was showing interest in Daegan. She wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"Daegan. He's our neighbor," Belle said.

Reed's eyes softened.

"Come on guys, let's go bring our stuff in." Belle and her mom helped the others bring their bags into Belle's bedroom. Belle said good-bye to her mom, who left to go on her weekly business trip.

Belle's grandparents hugged her when she came into the house. "So good to see you!" her grandmother exclaimed. "And who are your lovely friends?"

When they were all settled in, Belle introduced everybody. "Olive, Qwin, Harissa, and Reed."

"Let's go and see the mama horse!" Belle's grandfather called.

Belle's friends followed her grandfather as they headed out to the barn.

Winter was a pure white horse with a mane that seemed to sparkle. Harissa stepped gently toward the anxious horse. "Hey there," she whispered.

"We have to be really gentle with her," Belle murmured to everyone.