Page 28 of Secrets and S'mores
“See? Nice chickens. They were just excited about breakfast.”
“Do they all have names?” A smile tugs at her mouth and she looks down at the chickens bustling around their little coop.
“This one is Cutlet, and here’s Cacciatore,” I say, pointing out the chickens I’ve named. “Kiev, Curry, Satay, Fricassee, Alfredo, Teriyaki.” Ember lets out a small laugh, but she smothers it with the back of her hand.
“Here, let’s refill their water and go feed the goats.”
She strokes Picada one last time. I set the hen back in her box, murmuring thanks to her for being such a good girl.
I use the hose to refill the girls’ water before leading Ember over to the goats’ pen. She stops at the fence and rests her elbows against the top.
“The smaller one is Cheesette and the bigger one is Cheddarbelle,” I explain. Cheddarbelle trots over, her soft, brown ears swaying. “They’re Nubian goats. Either Cedar or my dad has already milked them today, so we just need to refill their food and water.”
“You milk them?”
“You haven’t seen my dad’s cheese kitchen have you?”
“His what?”
“Yeah, he makes goat cheese. You’ve eaten some already. But it’s really messy, so Mom doesn’t let him use the normal kitchen. He’s got a whole set up. I can take you there later.”
“You guys are so weird,” she mutters, the slight curve to her mouth giving away her amusement.
After I refill their water, we load up on feed and treats and let ourselves into the goat pen. Cheesette walks out of their goat house and swings her head around to stare at Ember with her rectangular pupils.
“They’re a little creepy,” she says, her voice hushed as if the goats would be offended if they heard.
“Not my baby girls,” I joke, holding my hands over Cheddarbelle’s ears. They’re so long and floppy, they swing below my hands. She shakes herhead to knock me away.
“I’m sorry,” Ember says to Cheddarbelle. Pure delight shoots through me that she’s playing along.
“Here,” I thrust an apple slice into her hand. “They’ll love you forever if you give them treats.”
I refill their food while Ember feeds carrots and apple slices to Cheddarbelle. Everything is fine until Cheesette joins in.
“Hi, pretty girl,” Ember coos, petting the smaller goat. Cheesette tosses her head and lurches forward to ram into Ember. “Hey!”
There’s no way I can reach her in time before her ass hits the dirt. Apple slices spill out of the container and both goats help themselves.
“Onyx!” she cries, waving at where Cheddarbelle’s back hoof pins her shirt to the ground. “This is worse than the chickens!”
Shoving the goat aside, I pull Ember up. Half way, she lets out a shriek. “She’s eating my hair!” I freeze, horrified as she wrestles a thick piece of hair out Cheesette’s mouth.
“It’s because you dyed it green. It probably looks like grass to her,” Cedar calls from the fence. He watches our circus with a small smile.
“It doesn’t look like grass,” Ember protests. I can’t help my guffaw at her outrage. She pushes Cheesette away. “No treats for you, you little shithead.”
“Aw, she didn’t mean that,” I say, feeding a carrot to the smaller goat. Ember scowls at me.
“No accountability for being rude to guests? That tracks,” she snaps.
“I’msorry,” I drawl.
Her hands shoot up. “Go back to babying your goats.”
Cheesette shoves her nose into my palm, demanding more attention. I feed her my last carrot and give her a good ear rub.
Ember stands at the fence with a small and utterly smug smile on her face. Before I can question her, Cheddarbelle knocks into my back with her front hooves. I stumble forward and catch myself, but both girls are knocking into me with their hooves, trying to climb my back. Twisting, my ass hits the dirt.
