When I finished, the room was silent. I turned to see Jack and Abby peering inside the doorway, Mr. Haney towering over me, and Troy and Nate standing in the hall. I felt my face turn a bright red.
“You play just like my mother,” Mr. Haney said quietly.
I stood and grabbed the edges of my skirt, then dipped low in a curtsy. “Thank you, Mr. Haney.”
His eyebrow arched up, and from the corner of my eye I saw Jack’s scowl. Oops! Troy stood with his arms folded across his chest, while Nate leaned against the wall with his thumbs hooked into his belt loops. His wonderful dark-brown eyes studied me.
“Will you come here often to play for me?” Mr. Haney asked. “I would love that.”
“Well . . .” I looked at Abby and Jack for help.
“We’ve actually come to ask you something, Mr. Haney,” she said.
Everyone’s attention turned to her, and Mr. Haney ducked his head under the doorframe and stepped out onto the porch. “How can I help you kids?”
I joined them outside. Mr. Haney motioned to Jack and asked, “Who do we have here?”
“This is Dani’s friend, Jack,” Abby explained. “Both Dani and he are looking for a job, and I told them you are always looking for help on the ranch.”
Still looking at Jack, Mr. Haney said, “I only need one ranch hand.”
“We can divide the work,” I blurted out. I didn’t want to sit at home while someone else got to do the fun stuff, and besides, Jack wasn’t going to let me out of his sight.
“Very well,” Mr. Haney replied. “As long as you agree to come early and play the piano for me.”
I nodded eagerly.
Mr. Haney turned to Abby. “Are you looking for work too?”
“No thank you,” she said. “I have my own chores at home.”
“When can we start?” asked Jack, who had said nothing since we arrived.
“My boys can handle the morning feeding before school,” Mr. Haney replied, “but if you can come in the evenings, I’ll have you help with the night feeding at 6:00. You’ll need to clean the stalls before that, so be here today at 5:00.”
“Yes sir,” Jack and I said.
I nodded, and Jack repeated, “Yes, sir.”
Mr. Haney took my hand. “I’ll expect you to come even earlier to play the piano, Danielle. I’ve been waiting a long time to hear music again.” He looked me in the eyes for several seconds, almost like he was in a trance.
Jack cleared his throat. “Thank you, Mr. Haney. We’ll be back at 5:00.”
I slid my hand out of Mr. Haney’s, then grabbed onto Jack’s elbow and we walked away.
“That was peculiar,” I commented.
“Dani, I don’t think you should be here,” Jack said.
My shoulders deflated. “He has a piano, and it’s been so long since I’ve played! You know how much music means to me. You can’t keep me away from this place.”
“I know that. No one can keep you away from anything you want to do. Believe me, I’ve tried.” Jack narrowed his eyes. “Just promise me you’ll never come here alone. Always wait until I can come with you.”
I’m not a child! I wanted to shout, but instead I said, “I promise.” Even though arguing with Jack was a waste of time, it didn’t mean I’d always let him babysit me.
As Abby and Jack chatted on the walk back to her house, my ears listened to the songs in my head. Playing music again had filled me with happiness.
At Dorothy’s house, I asked Abby for paper and a pen, then closed myself in my room to outline the music that had come together in my brain. Here in Idaho, pens had ink inside them, so they didn’t need to be regularly dipped in an ink pot. It was nice not to get ink all over my hands like I did back in Fenmore Falls.
When it was time to leave. I tucked my drafts into a book bag Abby had given me, and placed it safely in a corner of the room.
Jack and I arrived at the horse ranch at precisely 5:00. Nate and Troy were propped up against the white corral fence, waiting for us. They wore jeans, old shirts, and dirty cowboy boots. Nate greeted us with a tip of his brown cowboy hat and a forced grin. “It’ll be nice to have some extra help,” he said.
Before Abby, Jack, and I had gone to his house to ask Nate’s father for a job, I hadn’t gotten a chance to tell Nate about it. Seeing his expression made me realize I should have tried harder to find him at school, to let him know.
“Jack, you’re going to help Troy mend the fence in the east pasture,” he declared.
Jack looked back at me. He pointed to his eyes as if to indicate that he wanted me to stay close where he could watch me.
Oh brother, I moaned inwardly, wanting to roll my eyes.
Eager for something to do, I asked Nate, “Where are we going to work?”
“Follow me,” he said flatly and walked toward the red barn.
I watched his boots kick up dirt for several seconds before I followed him. “Where are we going?” I asked.
“The barn.”
No kidding. “What are we doing?”
“Work.”
Pig head, I cursed in my head. If he was going to be difficult, I wasn’t going to daydream about him anymore.
Aw, who am I kidding? Of course, I will dream about him. He’s still a pig head, though.
We entered the west side of the barn. At the entrance, two pitchforks rested near two rusty green wheelbarrows. Nate lifted a pitchfork and entered one of the horse stalls, where he began to shovel manure and dirty straw into one of the wheelbarrows. I stared at his well-defined biceps, which flexed with every bend and lift of his arms.
When my eyes resurfaced to Nate’s face, he was staring back at me. My neck and face burned with humiliation.
“It’ll be a long night if you just stand there and watch me.”
“Right, sorry.” I stammered. I picked up the second pitchfork and moved to the next stall. I watched Nate one more time to get the proper technique, then bent over and scooped up some horse poop with my pitchfork.
Ew! I moaned inwardly. There was a reason stable hands did this job at the castle. It was not a task for a princess. What would my mom think if she saw me now?
I carefully dropped the small pile of manure into the wheelbarrow and wrinkled my nose with disgust.
“Did you bring work boots?” Nate asked. “You’re going to get a little dirty.”
I looked down at my feet. Sure enough, my boots were caked with greenish brown, smelly poop.
“I guess those are your work boots now?” He chuckled.
I hoped I could reimburse Abby for ruining her boots. Dorothy had bought me some new dresses and this one was a dark blue, so at least the dirt and manure wouldn’t show as much asit would have on Abby’s white dress.
Nate and I didn’t talk as we continued shoveling and dumping. In the quiet barn, all I could hear was the tines of our metal pitchforks sliding across the floor.
Soon my arms throbbed, but I tried to push through the pain.
“How long is Jack staying?” Nate asked, breaking the silence.
“I guess he’ll be here for as long as I am,” I answered.
“You two are pretty close.” It was more a question than a statement.
“Yes, he’s my best friend.”
Nate didn’t reply. While I was glad he had dropped the subject, I felt disappointed our conversation was over. Oh well, I thought after a while. I didn’t want to fall for him, so it’s for the best.
When he finished the last stall, he dumped both of our wheelbarrows outside and placed our pitchforks near the door.
I followed him back to the fence to wait for Jack and Troy. “Is it always like this?” I asked.
Nate looked at me. “The work? It’s usually worse. There’s always so much to be done.”
I couldn’t imagine doing more work. A side effect of being a pampered princess my whole life was not having the strength for manual labor.
Jack joined us a moment later and we walked back to Dorot
hy’s house. After I took a shower and he took a bath (or whatever he was doing splashing around in the bathroom), we each crawled into our beds.
Remind me again why I’m doing this, I thought before I drifted off to sleep. Oh yes, to see if Troy is a threat or not.
I sure hoped this plan was going to be worth it.
}
The next morning I was tired and sore. After rolling out of bed, I made it through my morning routine, though I groaned every time I lifted my arms.
At school that day, I endured Nate’s silence and Jamie’s cold stares by thinking about how I’d get to play Mr. Haney’s piano later that afternoon.
When we got home after school, I quickly grabbed my book bag with my written music and rushed over to Mr. Haney’s house. He answered the door with a smile and ushered me into the piano room. “I’ve looked forward to this all day,” he said.
“Me too,” I admitted.
I dropped my bag on the wooden floor, retrieved my music, and placed it on the backboard of the piano. Then I lifted my began to play. My soul flowed through my fingers, which were dancing on the keys.
Everything I had been through recently came through in the music I played. Every moment, every feeling trickled from my fingertips onto the keys. I played a fast piece showing my anguish when my dad left me in this strange world. My music became low when I thought about the wizard who was pursuing me. I pounded the keys hard as I thought about Nate’s confusing behavior the last few days and I played softly and peacefully when I thought of his sweet kiss on my cheek. My moods shifted as the minutes passed.
Mr. Haney sat in the chair in the corner of the room. I thought his presence would intimidate or restrain my music, but his praise encouraged and elated me.
When I finished, I turned to apologize for taking so much time playing the piano. I knew I needed to get outside to work. However, instead of Mr. Haney, Nate was sitting there.
“We’re late,” he said.
“Sorry, I didn’t know what time it was.”
“You should get a watch.” He pointed to his wrist.
I cringed. Even though I didn’t need praise from him, I wasn’t expecting rudeness. As I placed my music in my book bag, a sad song played in my heart.
“Now, let’s get to work.” Nate stood and walked out the door.
I looked longingly at the piano. “Until tomorrow,” I sighed.
Nate and I worked side by side, silently shoveling manure. Not wanting to give him the satisfaction of complaining, I kept quiet and fought through the pain in my arms. In fact, I shoveled as fast as possible so we could finish and I could go back to Dorothy’s house. Cleaning out horse stalls wasn’t going to help me find out if Troy was a threat to my safety. I was suffering through this awful chore and enduring Nate’s silence for nothing.
Right now the only danger was that my heart would crack because of his coldness. I knew it wouldn’t be fatal, but I wished I had never met him. Hopefully I’d forget him as soon as I went back to Fenmore Falls.
Hopefully.
Chapter 16
Princess Etiquette:
How to Behave in Public
Royal ladies, especially princesses, should be meek and obedient, always deferring to the king and other royal males. A royal woman’s most essential trait is her beauty; therefore, she is expected to take great care with her grooming, her dress, and her diet. Her appearance must forever take precedence over her intelligence and education. When engaging in conversation, she must consider at every moment how she might best convey her respect of the opinions of the king. She must never openly criticize any noble or royal person in the presence of others. If absolutely necessary, the royal lady may give an icy stare, or perhaps even a stiff bow.
Day 9 in Idaho
Wednesday and Thursday were just like Tuesday: school, playing piano for Mr. Haney, and shoveling manure in the barn with Nate, who didn’t say a word unless he was ordering me around. By Friday, I’d had enough of his rudeness.
We were cleaning out the stalls again, and he was being a pig head, as usual. What I did next probably wasn’t the best, but I was seriously mad at him. He was cleaning out the stall next to where I was working, and I scooped some horse poop on my pitchfork and tossed it at him. Yes, you heard me right—I threw poop at Nate. It landed on the back of his head and then plopped onto the ground.
Oh, what have I done? I froze with my hand on my pitchfork.
Nate slowly turned around and lifted his lips in a half grin. Then, without warning, he flipped something at me from his own pitchfork. Several chunks of fresh horse poop hit me in the stomach, stuck for just a second, and rolled onto the floor.
I looked down at my dark-blue dress. Thankfully, the color mostly hid the stain, but I could see flecks of green here and there.
I opened my mouth in shock. “I can’t believe you threw poop at me!”
“What did you expect? You threw poop at me.”
“You deserved it,” I exclaimed.
Nate lifted his pitchfork to throw more manure.
“Please, no,” I begged.
“Apologize,” he ordered.
“For what?”
He raised his pitchfork higher.
“Nate, please don’t.” I shielded my face with my hands.
“Apologize for pretending to like me when you already had a boyfriend.”
“What?” I put my hands down and looked at him.
“Apologize for making me think you had feelings for me when you obviously had feelings for someone else.”
“Nate, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He lowered his pitchfork. “Come on, Dani. I’m talking about you and Jack.”
“He’s my best friend.”
“I guess that’s the best kind of friend to have—tall, rugged, and good-looking.”
“What?!” I laughed out loud. “Are you talking about Jack? That’s ridiculous. He’s not good-looking.” I giggled. “Well, I guess he could be, but I’ve never thought of him like that. I’ve known him forever—he’s like a brother.”
“I thought you two were dating.”
“Dating? Not at all. We are just friends.”
“I saw you holding his hand once,” Nate pointed out. “And he jumps at every opportunity to help you.”
“Isn’t that what friends do—help each other?”
“Yeah, but it seems like there’s something more between you two.”
Yes, Jack was always there for me, and I could count on him. I didn’t know what my life would be like without him. “He’s a friend who is more like a brother,” I explained.
“My mistake.” Nate gave me his crooked smile.
Oh, how I had missed that. “What about you and Jamie?” I said. “She seemed pretty attached to you at lunch today.”
I almost felt nauseous again as I recalled them sitting together in the cafeteria. Jamie had smiled a lot and kept touching Nate’s arm as they talked. I’d repeatedly stabbed my food on my plate with my fork, trying in vain not to watch her throw herself at him.
Nate raised his eyebrows. “You’re going to compare Jamie and me to you and Jack?”
I shrugged my shoulders and looked down.
Nate let out a loud breath and walked into my stall. I stared at his manure-stained boots as they stopped next to mine.
“There is nothing between Jamie and me, and there never will be. Okay?”
I peeked up to see his face close to mine. Heat swept through my veins and made me feel dizzy. I tried to think, tried to get control, but couldn’t help myself as I leaned toward him.
Before I could get too excited, he smiled and said, “You stink.” He swiftly grabbed me by my waist and threw me over his shoulder.
It was like the first night we met when I wouldn’t get on his horse, and he’d hefted me onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Instead of fighting him this time, I just smiled and squealed a little.
Nate walked out of the barn with me draped over his
shoulder. From my upside-down view, I could see he was moving toward the horse trough next to the barnyard wall.
“You wouldn’t dare!” I shouted.
I felt his laugh through his back. “We both stink,” he said. “We need a bath.”
“If you throw me in that water, Nate, I swear . . .” I couldn’t finish my threat before he dropped me gently into the shallow, moss-filled water.
I went under the surface for a second and then surfaced with a large intake of breath. Too shocked for words, I looked up at his smiling face. He pointed to my chin and said, “You’ve got a little brown stuff right there.”
I wiped at my chin, certain I looked dreadful, with my hair plastered to my face, and my clothes stuck to my wet skin. My mom would be mortified if she saw me like this.
I stood up in the trough, put my hand over my eye, and whimpered, “I have something in my eye. Can you come look?”
When Nate stepped closer to peer into my eye, I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him off balance. He tripped over the side of the metal trough and fell into the dirty water.
Moments later he sat up, coughing and spitting water. “You little devil.” He tried to grab for me, but I quickly climbed out of the trough. As he stood, I ran toward the barn. Soon I could hear his soaked pant legs slapping against each other as he ran after me.
“I’m sorry,” I called back as I ran.
“Too late for that.” His laugh came from close behind me.
Suddenly I was wrapped in his arms and pushed up against the side of the barn. Both of us were laughing, and once that subsided we were left with an awkward silence. Neither of us moved.
“At least we smell better now,” Nate finally said.
It took a second, but then I laughed at his joke. It wasn’t a ladylike laugh, but the kind you do when you sort of lose control and snicker through your nose.
Instantly, my hands shot up to cover my face.
“Did you just snort?” Nate asked, trying to stop laughing.
Finding Sleeping Beauty Page 11