And Along Came Jake by Christopher Vaca Read Free Book Online

go!"
    Jake slowly sat up, shook his head and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He was still trying to comprehend exactly what was going on.
    "Aww come on Mr. Brierly!" He said in a groggy voice. "We've got all day. It's barely six a.m. Can't I just have five more minutes of sleep?"
    "Five more minutes?" A puzzled look crossed Mr. Brierly's face. He started banging the feeder pans together again. "My crops could die in five more minutes! Get up, get up, get up!" He continued banging and shouting as he stormed out of the barn.
    After he was completely out of sight, Jake laid back down and fell right back to sleep. He must've only closed his eyes for just a few seconds, when all of a sudden, a bucket of cold water dumped on him, causing him to jump up, gasp for air, and wildly look around.
    "Why'd you have to do that, Mr. B?" Jake pouted, wiping pieces of wet hair off his face. "Okay, okay, I'm up, I'm up!" He grumbled.
    "That's more like it!" Mr. Brierly nodded, and placed the empty bucket on the ground. "Now get dressed, grab the bucket, and head to the big barn to give Madison a hand. She'll tell ya what all needs to be done!"
    "Get dressed...grab this...meet Madison...blah, blah, blah." He mimicked under his breath, as Mr. Brierly walked away.
    As Jake neared the big barn, he saw Madison mixing dry feed, in a large basin with her hands. "Over here Jake!" She called "Hurry up, I need that bucket!"
    "Okay, I'm comin'!" he replied walking faster. He hoped Madison would explain the chore-list, as he was completely unfamiliar with all this crop and farming stuff.
    "Well, well, well..." Madison teased, "Look who finally decided to wake up!"
    "Give me a break, I'm not use to waking up this early."  He sighed.
    "So" Madison said "I heard you had an early morning shower… did ya like it?" Before he could say a word, she handed him a large scoop and continued. "Okay, take this scoop, and fill the bucket with feed!"
    He took the scoop and slowly started filling the bucket. He wasn't working slow on purpose, or even to get on Madison's nerves. He was simply uninterested, and his actions showed it very well.
    "Today Jake!" She yelled. "You need to hurry, there's still a lot to do!" She demanded, hands on her hips. "Look…the faster we get this stuff done, the sooner we can go do whatever we want, got it?"
    "Got it!" He nodded in agreement, and began to work a little faster.
    After Jake filled the remainder of the bucket, they started walking towards the chicken coup. "So," he asked "We ain't gotta do this kinda stuff all day?"
    "Well" she replied "My dad does this kinda stuff all day but I––" She paused, cracked a smile and continued, "I mean, we just have a few chores in the morning, take care of the dishes after supper, and that's basically it. It's pretty easy, but it does change a little during the school year. We'll have to wake up a bit earlier and take time for our studies, but other than that, it's not so bad."
    Madison unlocked and opened the wire gate of the chicken coup. "Okay Jake, get in there and start spreading the feed around. But be careful for the rooster, he's a feisty one!"
    "Everything's under control Maddie, just leave it to me!" he assured, making him seem fearless.
    As the feed fell to the ground, the chickens and rooster instantly pecked at the ground, following Jake wherever he went. Just then, Mr. Brierly walked over to Madison, who was leaning on the wire fence. "Did you remember to warn him about the rooster?" He asked.
    "Sure did Pa!" She replied "But he doesn't seem too concerned about it. He said that he had everything under control."
    "Oh he did, did he? Well, this is gonna be good!" He chuckled.
    "See, I told you!" Jake smiled. "I'm a professional at this already."
    Jake decided to show off, as he began stomping his foot, taunting the rooster.
    "Whatcha' got little chicken, whatcha' got?" He teased, testing the animal's patients.
    As he started to walk away, he looked over and smiled at Madison,