The Forest Ranger's Promise by Leigh Bale Read Free Book Online Page B

said. “Haven’t you ever petted a lamb before?”
    â€œNo. They’re so soft.” Shelley’s eyes gleamed with happiness as she rubbed a lamb’s velvety ears.
    â€œWhat are you, a city kid or something?”
    Shelley shrugged, looking out of place in her girly skirt. Anne couldn’t help envying the other girl’s creamy complexion and blond hair. She figured Craig Eardley would pay more attention to her if she had Shelley’s blue eyes. Instead, Anne had bright red hair she kept pulled back in a ponytail, green eyes and freckles all over her face, even on her forehead. She could kick the ball off the blacktop at school and run fast, but the boys never chased her during kissing tag. She figured they’d chase after Shelley, though.
    â€œWhat are their names?” Shelley asked.
    â€œYou can’t name them,” Anne scolded. “Why not?”
    â€œBecause we sell and eat them. Sheep are a cash crop. Don’t you know anything?”
    Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. Mom told Anne not to name the lambs so she wouldn’t be sad if one of them died or if they sold them, but Anne did it anyway. Just a few of her favorite lambs.
    â€œYou eat them?” Shelley’s blue eyes widened with horror.
    Anne laughed. “Nah, not really. Mom says we don’t eat our sheep. We just raise them for wool.”
    â€œOh, okay.” Shelley smiled with relief, bending over to snuggle one sweet, fuzzy lamb.
    Anne didn’t want to like this girl, but she couldn’t help it. Shelley didn’t know much, but she seemed to love the lambs as much as Anne did. Obviously, Shelley needed someone to teach her what to do on a sheep ranch.
    â€œWhere’re their mothers?” Shelley asked.
    â€œThey don’t have moms. These are dogie lambs. They’re orphans.”
    â€œDoggie lambs?”
    â€œNo, you’re saying it wrong. They’re not doggie lambs, like Bob is a dog. You say it like dough. Dough-gie lambs.”
    Shelley repeated the word perfectly.
    â€œYeah, that’s what orphans are called.”
    â€œOh, that’s so sad.” Shelley hugged the lamb again as it tugged on the bottle.
    Anne waved a hand in the air. “They’re okay. We take good care of them. They’re already nibbling hay and alfalfa pellets. Soon, we’ll be taking them out to graze in the paddock.”
    The hungry lamb jerked, knocking Shelley back into the straw. The girl laughed. “What happened to their moms?”
    â€œSome died, but sometimes the ewe has twins or triplets and she can only take care of one or two of her babies when she goes up to the summer pasture to graze. So we bring the smaller baby here to tend.”
    â€œThen not all the moms died?”
    â€œOf course not, silly.” Anne snickered. “You really don’t know much.”
    â€œThen I guess I’m a dogie lamb, too.”
    Anne raised her brow. “What do you mean?”
    â€œMy mom isn’t dead, but she doesn’t want me. My dad doesn’t think I know, but I do.”
    Shelley sounded like she was about to cry. Anne felt like crying, too, but refused to let it show. Even when Dad had been alive, she’d had an empty feeling inside all the time. Like he didn’t really love or want her. Like he preferred his bottle to her and Mom. But she’d always had Mom to love her. How horrible not to be wanted by your own mother. “What mom doesn’t want her kid?”
    Shelley scuffed a sandaled foot against the rough lumber of the feeding stall. “Mine doesn’t. She got married to Malcolm Henley the third, and he doesn’t like kids, so I have to live with Dad. I heard them arguing about it late one night when I was supposed to be asleep.” A glimmer of a smile touched her lips. “Dad can’t cook much, but at least he wants me. He got this new transfer to Snyderville and I had to leave all my old friends