The Good Girl

Chapter 3

The next morning, I banged on Bender's door before the sun was even up. "Wake up, big guy! It's time to go to work!" I called.

I didn't hear any answer so I pushed the door open. Bender lay as a motionless lump beneath the blanket. Bo looked up at me from his position against Bender's legs. I noticed his boots sitting next to the door so I picked one up and tossed it at him. He groaned as it hit him. "I'm awake." He moaned.

I whistled and Bo jumped up and trotted out the door to start the morning's work. "I'll meet you outside." I told Bender as I shut the door.

In 15 minutes, I had brushed my teeth and gotten dressed in my work clothes, which consisted of jeans, a long-sleeve tee shirt, boots, and a hand-me-down work coat with gloves stuffed in the pockets. Since I had spent my whole life waking up at the crack of dawn to get the work done before the day even started, I was used to the house being busy in the mornings. I had developed a rhythm for myself to fall into everyday and I had forgotten about Bender until I walked out of my bedroom to find him standing at the top of the stairs. I was reminded that I needed to show him how everything worked around the property.

"I'm surprised you're awake." I said with a grin as I headed down the stairs.

Bender followed me. "I didn't sleep much anyway." He said. I recognized his shirt as one of Charlie's old ACDC shirts. He wore a brown flannel over it and jeans with his own boots. It wasn't very different from what he normally wore everyday.

We turned the corner and started heading for the door. I saw Mom busy in the kitchen, obviously making breakfast for when we were finished for the morning. "Have fun, John!" She called as we went through the door. Bender smiled as he grabbed his denim jacket and trench coat on the way out.

"So what's the plan?" He asked as we started walking toward the barn.

"Nothing crazy." I answered, rubbing my hands against the morning chill. "Our main job is to feed all of the animals. Also milk the cows, collect eggs, and let the horses out." I shrugged. "It's not hard and shouldn't take any longer than an hour."

"You do this every morning?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yup. So will you." I answered with a grin.

The next hour or so went by quickly. I showed Bender how to get feed from the silos and where to give it to our cows, sheep, and chickens. I showed him how to milk the cows, which took him a few tries to get right. But he was a quick learner and was good at working with his hands. I knew he would have no problem adjusting to farm life in the next few months. The final chore was to let the horses into the field.

I pulled open the doors to the stables and turned on the lights. There was shuffling noises coming from the stalls and I smiled. "Good morning, everybody." I greeted.

Bender looked around at our three horses. "Do you ride these?" He asked.

"Yeah." I replied. "I can show you sometime if you'd like."

Bender didn't answer as I opened the first stall to reveal a large, black stallion. "This is Midnight." I said, stepping in to put the lead on him. Bender hesitated to join me. I giggled. "It's ok, he won't hurt you."

"I'm not afraid of him." Bender snapped and stepped inside. He still looked tense as he got closer to the large animal.

"In that case, why don't you take him out." I held the rope out to Bender, seeing if he would take it.

"I don't know how." He answered, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're supposed to show me."

"Oh, ok. You just seemed so confident, I thought you already knew what you were doing." I said sarcastically. I led Midnight out of the stall, forcing Bender to push himself against the wall. I heard him exhale but he didn't respond.