Hunter caught my eyes and winked. He had an amused smile on his face, as if he couldn’t believe I was going to put my hands on this smelly beast. Honestly, I couldn’t either. But at least I had my own cheerleading section. That was more than Sarah could say. I didn’t see any of her girls around. Guess they preferred spending time inside at the mall than getting their manicured hands dirty at the fair.
“Nice sheep. Good sheep.” I turned back to my animal and reached out to pat Timmy’s head.
If I could show it I was a friend, maybe it would cooperate and not take off a finger. The moment my hand touched its wooly fur, it let out a disgruntled bleat so loud that everyone in the crowd watching chuckled.
“So much for being friends,” I grumbled.
“You got to get him wet first,” Dennis said impatiently, pointing to the hose on the ground. “Come on, we ain’t got all day.”
I picked up the hose, ignoring Dennis the Menace’s bossy attitude. When the spray turned on, Timmy began to tap dance. And as I started to wet down his back, he began bleating so loud that anyone in a five-mile radius would’ve thought I was torturing the silly thing.
“Does it ever stop doing that?” I shouted at Dennis.
He shrugged and held Timmy’s head still. “I told ya—he don’t like girls. He thinks you’re smelly.”
I shot Dennis a look, but kept my mouth shut. If anyone was the smelly one here, it was Timmy the sheep. Thankfully, when he was fully wet and the hose had been shut off, he settled down into only the occasional complaint. Dennis directed me to the specialized sheep shampoo and as I began to work it into the wool, I took a moment to check out my competitors.
Most of the girls seemed to be having an easier time than me. Geminia had already began to rinse the suds off her fluffy white sheep. She looked good doing it, her vibrant red hair in two braids over her shoulder and a cute straw hat on her head. I didn’t even have the heart to check on Sarah’s progress. Most likely, she was wowing the crowd with her ability to imitate a girl in a Michael Bay film while working farm animals. I was sure the cowboys were having a fun time with that. All the other competitors were the same. None of their sheep were complaining. I was the only one to get stuck with a dud.
Was it too late to back out?
“Hey, Charlotte, whatcha doing to that sheep?” Graham called out, cupping his mouth like a megaphone. Timmy bleated extra loud, as if he understood Graham was talking about him. “Don’t make us report you to animal control.”
That got a good laugh from the crowd. Blood rushed to my cheeks. So much for getting my revenge on Sarah. At this rate, she was going to have a lot more things to torture me with. I kept my eyes glued to the sheep and ignored the catcalls from the boys behind me, determined to make it through this trial with my dignity intact.
Or at least—partially.
“Use the curry comb now,” Dennis ordered, pointing to a strange round metal brush on the ground.
I saluted him with two fingers and got to work brushing it through the sheep’s wool. There was a lot of mud and muck still stuck to its underbelly. I kneeled down beside it to get a better look, running my hand under it to assess the damage. At least Ms. Gentry couldn’t say I wasn’t being thorough. I had to win points for that.
“Timmy must like to play in the mud,” I said, looking up at Dennis. “He’s super dirty down there.”
Dennis shrugged and spat at the ground. “That’s not mud. That’s manure. It gets caked into his wool when he’s been stalled for a while.”
My stomach nearly jumped into my mouth as I tried not to gag. I had poop on my hands. Gross, stinky, sheep poop. Grabbing the hose, I rinsed it off my hands as fast as I could and got back to combing the junk out of Timmy’s wool, doing my best not to barf.
“Ms. Hale, you seem determined to be the last one to arrive for every event,” Ms. Gentry said, strolling smoothly toward me as if she had a set of skates under that long dress of hers. Her critical gaze took in my progress on the sheep and then snapped back up to me. “The other contestants have finished their tasks and I am moving them to the pavilion. Please join us when you’re through. Let’s see a bit more hustle here. Our 4Hers don’t have all day.”
Dennis clicked his tongue in agreement and shot me another superior look. That kid was seriously something else. I held in my groan while I finished brushing Timmy down. Thankfully, Ms. Gentry moved on to gather up the other girls as I once again grabbed the hose to rinse the soap off of my wooly client.
“Okay, Timmy,” I said, narrowing my eyes at the sheep. “I promise to be quick if you promise to stop screaming. It’s only water. You won’t melt. Don’t be a baby.”
“That’s not a very nice way to talk to my sheep,” Dennis complained, stomping his foot.
I bit back my laugh. This kid was a riot. “Okay, I’m sorry. Timmy, don’t be a lamb. Is that better?”
From the way Dennis stuck his tongue out at me, he wasn’t satisfied with that either. Still, I turned on the hose and immediately the sheep began to bleat and scream as if I were strangling him. The laughter started up
