A horse-drawn wagon pulled to a stop, and a tough-looking man hopped down from the seat, while a young girl Addison's own age remained in the back.
"Hey," the man called to the Coachwoman, who was making some notes in her ledger. "Here for m'jennies. Two fer my barn?"
"That's right," the Coachwoman smiled brightly, coming over. "I've been expecting you, sir."
"Never mind the fancy talkin'," grunted the man. "You got me those two jennies or not?"
"They're right here, sir," the Coachwoman answered, coming up to Layla and Addison's crate. "Two healthy jennies, ready to work."
"Here's the money we agreed on," the man snapped, passing a sack to the Coachwoman.
"I'm sure it's all there," the Coachwoman smiled congenially. "Let me introduce you to your new donkeys."
She opened the crate and gestured for Layla and Addison to come out.
The two nervous jennies obeyed, looking up at their new master, who didn't seem like a kind man.
"Little small, aren’t they?" He grumbled.
"Oh, they're good and strong," the Coachwoman assured him. "And they'll grow stronger the more they work."
"Fine, I'll take them," said the man, turning back to his wagon. "Get down here and tie these donkeys to the wagon. Don' wannem runnin' off!"
The girl obediently grabbed some ropes from the wagon and hurried over to Layla and Addison, tying the ropes around their necks, tightly enough to be secure, but not so badly that it hurt.
Addison looked at the freckled and ginger haired girl, who smiled and winked at the two donkeys, before leading them to the back of the wagon and tying the other ends of their ropes to it. The girl’s clothes were tattered, in worse shape than any of the hand-me-downs Addison had ever had to put up with, she was even barefoot.
"It's been a right pleasure doing business, sir," the Coachwoman simpered at her client. "Let me know if you need more donkeys, and I'll make it happen."
Addison cringed, knowing what the Coachwoman was really saying – 'if you want more donkeys, I'll get more stupid girls to change into those donkeys.'
"Yeah, whatever," the man grunted as he climbed back into the driver's seat of the wagon while the girl returned to her seat in the wagon itself.
The man cracked the reins and the wagon began moving.
With no choice but to follow, Addison and Layla went with their new owner.
The man kept up a brisk pace with the wagons, and Addison and Layla had to walk quickly to keep up with the wagon, or risk being dragged.
The girl watched them closely from her seat in the wagon, looking as if she were tired from the journey.
Addison didn't mind the brisk pace so much as the clip-clop sounds of her own hooves against the rocky road they traveled, the sounds mocking her for her own foolishness at being duped by the Coachwoman.
The dust kicked up by the wagon soon stuck to Layla's and her bodies as they became wet with sweat from the effort of walking so far and so fast, and Addison was again painfully aware of her nakedness . . . yet it somehow wasn't quite as disturbing as it had been before.
Many people, mainly buyers, had already seen her, hadn't mocked her or laughed at her for it. To them, a naked donkey was a normal sight. Addison began to realize that the only one who was really disturbed by it was herself.
All of this occurred to her as the wagon proceeded out of town and through several miles of farming country. And finally, the jennies laid eyes on the huge ranch. It had large tracts of green field and agricultural crops, several farmhouses, barns, granaries and silos and various animals in their respective stables and poultry houses.
Addison reached the ranch, the man finally stopped the wagon, and both Layla and Addison panted heavily, trying to catch their breath after the long journey.
"Smells like chow's on," said the man as he jumped down from the wagon and tied the horse to a post just in front of a long water trough. "Get those donkeys tied up, watered, and fed, and then you can come and eat, girl."
The little farmer girl lowered herself to the ground from the wagon, looking disappointed, as if she were also hungry and really wanted to eat. "Yes, father," She sighed.
"You watch your tone," the man growled before heading into a large building, which was the workers’ dining room.
The girl united Addison and Layla from the back of the wagon and led them to the stables. The stables were formed by big stalls with latched doors and hay-covered ground. In the center was a room for walking, a water trough and piles of straw to eat. The girl untied them so they could go drink and eat.
Addison tried to thank the girl, but again, only brays escaped her mouth.
Strangely enough, the farmer girl smiled, reached out and patted Addison on the head. "If you're trying to thank me, you're welcome," She said, chuckling softly as if she almost expected a response. "I'm Melissa. The guy who drove us here is my father. He . . . he's not a really nice guy, but if you two do the work he expects, he'll treat you okay. That's how he treats everybody . . . including me."
Addison's eyes widened slightly in surprise, appalled by Melissa's description of her father.
"I'll see you girls later," Melissa grinned to the donkeys, hurrying toward the mess hall.
Addison sighed and reluctantly sampled her first bite of straw.
It was bland, to put it mildly, but not disgusting as she’d expected. Thinking of her mother's cooking, Addison began to eat.