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"Ugh, no- no! That's not- okay, there we go..."
Katie sat crosslegged on her bed, her long hair tumbling over her shoulders and down her back as she wrote in pen on her arm.
"Katie! You need to go!"
She gasped. "Shit!" She yelped, flinging herself off and darting out of her room. "Barkley! Barkley, Bark- oh, there you are!"
The dog raised his head and panted, wagging his tail. Katie pet his head. "Do my chores, will you?"
Barkley tilted his head, then froze as a bone was suddenly dangling in front of him.
"Thanks, Barkley!" Katie shouted as she bolted towards the stables. Once she got there, she leapt over the stall door instead of opening it. "Time to go to town, Rover!"
~
The chestnut stallion whinnied as he skidded to a halt, his rider leaping off of him. "I'm here!" Katie yelped, stumbling up to the porch.
Her mother glared at her. "You're late."
"Mama!" Katie groaned as her mother grabbed her wrist and dragged her inside. "I'm sorry! I tried-"
"Ugh, you're disgusting! What'd you do- roll in Rover's stall?"
"Ew, no! ... I fell in Rover's stall."
Colleen groaned, rolling her eyes. She dragged Katie into a back room where Katie's grandmother waited.
Grandmother waved her arms. "Clothes! Take your clothes off!"
"What!?"
"Bath- Get in the bath, Katherine Holt!" The older woman shouted, fumbling with different soaps.
"Ah- but I-"
Colleen grabbed her daughter's arm again and pulled on her sleeve. "Katie! You really couldn't bother yourself to memorize like I've told you to for the passed month?"
Katie grinned sheepishly, then yelped as her mother yanked her shirt off over her head. "Mom!"
"Get in the bath! Shave and clean yourself!"
"But, mama, it's cold!"
"It was warm when you should have been here!"
~
Katie whined as her hair was tugged and her mother pinched her face to hold her still while applying makeup. "Mama, I don't-"
"Sh, shut up. You'll ruin my work and mess up your grandmother's." Colleen scowled, turning Katie's head. "We're almost done."
There was a knock on the door, then Katie's aunt peeked into the room. "It's time to go."
