“Was it hard to pull back?”

  “Kind of, but not terrible.”

  “You’ll get used to it. Okay, let’s nock an arrow and see how you do. I put a target on that stack of hay bales right there. I want you to aim for the center of the target. Now we want to get about twenty feet away.”

  Jaden looked at the target and back at Greta. “Is this about twenty feet?”

  “Let me show you an easy way to figure it out here in the arena.” She pointed to the side. “You see those posts that the walls are attached to? The walls only go up about twelve feet and then you can see the posts.”

  “Yes.”

  “Those posts are eight feet apart. The hay bales and target are against the back wall. We know those posts are eight feet apart, so where do we want to be?”

  “Well, three posts would be twenty four feet and two posts would be sixteen feet so we want to be half way between the second and the third post.”

  “Perfect. I’m going to let you shoot a few and then we will talk about form and techniques.”

  Jaden took the arrow that Greta handed her. “Why doesn’t it have a pointy thing on it?”

  “We are going to let you shoot blunts until you get good. I’d rather you didn’t poke any holes in Allison’s arena. Put the nock in the string with the odd feather pointing up. Now, don’t put your hand in front of the arrow. Put the sharp end of the arrow on the arrow rest and pull back the string. You should already be pointing your arrow toward the target. You don’t want to accidentally let it fly when it is pointing at a person or animal.”

  Jaden followed instructions.

  “Pull the string back. Make sure the front of the arrow is still sitting on the arrow rest. Your fingers that are holding the string - rest that thumb at the corner of your mouth. Take a breath and gently release the string.”

  The arrow flew through the air. It hit the hay bales, but missed the target.

  “Very good. Do it again. This time, follow the arrow with your eyes. Don’t move from your stance until the arrow lands.”

  Jaden tried again. This time the arrow flew straight and hit the target on one of the outer rings.

  “You have two more arrows left. Try it again.”

  Both arrows hit the outer ring, very close to her first. Jaden grinned. “I hit the target three times!”

  “Yes, you did. Let’s go get your arrows and then you take a break and I’ll shoot a few with my bow. There are a few things I want to show you that will be easier with me demonstrating.”

  She picked up her bow. “You want to stand facing the target at about a forty-five-degree angle. You did that naturally so I won’t dwell. The hand that holds the bow should be relaxed. If you grip it, you won’t hit the target. You want to hold the bow firmly, but not clutch it tightly. When I pull my string back, I’m going to set my thumb right on the corner of my mouth. This is called anchoring.”

  She pulled an arrow out of the quiver. “The last important thing is the release. Watch when I release my arrow. Even though I’m holding the string back, you will probably see me take a breath and relax all of my fingers on the string, and then I simply release the string. And, my bow will stay in position until the arrow hits the target.”

  She nocked an arrow, pulled back the string, and let it fly. The arrow hit the bullseye.

  Jaden clapped.

  Greta shot three more arrows, each one flying true and finding it’s mark.

  “Let’s grab my arrows and give you another try.”

  Jaden found her spot about twenty feet from the target.

  “Now, stand tall and straight. Think about your back. Make sure it is straight. Relax your neck and shoulders. Don’t lean back. Don’t lean forward. Relax. Now, nock your arrow and take your shot.”

  The arrow hit the edge of the target.

  “Not bad, but I saw your shoulders come up after you nocked your arrow. Concentrate on relaxing and keeping your shoulders down. Relax and do it again.”

  The next three arrows hit the outer ring very close together.

  “That is great. Stand still. I want to adjust your sight just a little, then we’ll try it again. Now, your arrows are all hitting to the right of the bullseye so we are going to adjust your windage to the right. Just a tiny bit should put you in the bullseye. All right. Go get your arrows and try it again.”

  For the next half hour Jaden shot set after set never missing the bullseye.

  “Oh, man!” she exclaimed finally. “I can’t feel my arm anymore.”

  “I’m so sorry.” Greta hurried over and took the bow from Jaden. “I should have asked you if you were getting tired. I was so amazed at your natural abilities that I wasn’t thinking. You shoot like you’ve been doing it forever. I’m sorry I didn’t ask if you were ready to take a break.”

  “I would have said no.”

  Greta laughed. “I can remember when I first started. I was the same way. You did amazing. How about you sit on that hay bale and watch me shoot a couple sets, then we’ll put these away. I’d like to do it again.”

  “Me too.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  After stowing the bows in a locker by the steps to the hayloft, Greta turned to Jaden. “I have some liniment that will help your sore arm if you want to give it a try.”

  “Thanks, but I think I kinda like the hurt. It reminds me of the fun I had.” She giggled. “Every time I lift my arm, I feel the burn and then I think about shooting all those arrows into the bullseye and it makes me happy. Maybe I’m a little loony.”

  “You aren’t loony. You are amazing. What you did today was nothing short of fantastic. Even if you never shoot that perfect again, I had such a great time watching you.”

  They stepped into the stable. The door from the bunkhouse opened and one of the construction guys stepped out, followed by a pretty woman with shoulder length brown hair, and two children.

  “Hi, Mike,” Greta said with a smile.

  “Greta! I want you to meet my wife and kids.” He turned and put his arm around the woman. “Lisa, this is Greta Burke and Jaden Gordon. Greta is a carpenter and Jaden is Bill Gordon’s daughter.”

  “Hi, Lisa.” Greta smiled. “Are you here to stay or just visiting?”

  “We brought our things. Mike says that we need to get settled in so that we can prepare for winter.”

  “Mike is right. It’s going to take a lot of work to get ready for winter. I’m not sure what they are planning on doing in town, but we are going to have a cozy winter.”

  “They are talking about setting up dormitories in the schools in town. I’m not sure how they plan on feeding everyone. Mike says this will be the best place for us.”

  “I agree. If we are all willing to work together, we should do well.”

  Mike turned and motioned the two kids forward. “Greta and Jaden, this is my daughter Erin and my son Cody.”

  Cody was the first to step forward. He wore jeans and a green t-shirt. He smiled shyly. Behind him, Erin hung back.

  Jaden felt her heart flutter. Erin from school stood staring at her.

  Erin raised her head and her chin jutted out. Her lip curled. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “We moved here,” Jaden replied. She didn’t know whether to smile and pretend everything was good or turn and walk away as she had always done at school. She decided to smile.

  “Which room did you guys take?” Jaden asked. “I’m at the very end upstairs.”

  “Ours is about halfway upstairs,” Erin said. “Right in the middle of all the action. There’s some other kids moving in next door to us.”

  “Cool! Let’s go meet them.” Jaden felt her stomach tighten. Her brain screamed to be careful. But she knew that she’d have to get a long with Erin living in such close confinement.

  As the two girls mounted the stairs to their rooms, a door opened. A tall, thin woman stepped out. When she saw the two girls she smiled, then turned back to the room and said, “Missy and Sissy, come meet your neighbors.”

  Two girls about eight years old peeked out of the room. They were undoubtedly twins. Both had the same red hair and striking blue eyes.

  “Hi, I’m Jaden and this is Erin. My room is down there at the end.” Jaden looked at Erin.

  “Uhm. My room is right here,” she said. “Want to see it?”

  “Okay,” said one of the girls.

  “I think I’ve seen you before,” said Jaden. “Did you take dance class with Miss Belo?”

  “Yes,” said one of the twins. “We’ve seen you.”

  Erin opened the door to her room. She picked up the Luci light and pressed the button before setting it back on the shelf.

  “Shouldn’t you have that light sitting on the window sill charging in the sun?” Jaden asked.

  “Well, duh! If it were down there, we couldn’t see in here.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Oh, right.”

  “This room is exactly like ours,” one of the twins said. “A big bed on one side and bunk beds on the other.”

  “My room is skinnier,” Jaden said. “But it’s longer and it has a wall kind of.”

  “What’s a wall kind of?” The second twin looked at her sister.

  “Come on, I’ll show you,” Jaden said. She looked at Erin. “Can we use your light? I forgot to bring mine up.”

  They followed the balcony to the far end. Jaden pushed the door opened and stepped in with her Luci.

  “Oh,” one of the twins whispered. “Your room is so tiny. Where does your dad sleep?”

  “He’ll sleep right here.” Jaden pointed to the narrow bed. “My room is back there.” She moved toward the back.

  “Wait! You get two rooms?” This was from Erin. “That’s not fair. Why do you get two rooms? Are you special?”

  “I don’t know about fair,” Jaden said firmly. “Your room is still bigger than mine. You have more room to move around in. Mine is shaped like a hallway. But I am happy that I get my own private area.”

  “It’s an okay room.” Erin shrugged. She turned and headed to the balcony. “ Let’s go explore the barn.”

  “I have to help get supper ready. Do you want to help too?”

  Erin lifted her head. “Are you kidding me? I need to go explore. Maybe I’ll help tomorrow,” Erin said. “I want to see the barn.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Jaden reported to Mary who demonstrated how to chop onions quickly and safely.

  “Don’t forget to keep your fingers curled,” she cautioned. “The flat part of the knife touches your fingers, but the sharp end never gets close. Do it slowly. I do not want to see you cutting fast for a long time. Keep doing it slow and your fingers will learn the safe way and do it without you even having to think about it. Then you can get faster.”

  “How many people do we have for supper tonight?” Jaden asked.

  “The last count I took was twenty-two. We are going to have to change the way we serve.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, we have to understand that most of us are used to plenty of food on our plates. We sometimes clean our whole plate and walk away from the table feeling stuffed. That’s a waste of food. We need to learn what amount of food is the best for us nutritionally and then get used to eating just what we need. Our food is limited and we can’t just go pick up an endless supply anymore.

  “Another problem is leftovers. We can’t have leftovers. That fridge you guys got hooked up will help for a lot of things, but have you seen it?”

  Jaden shook her head.

  “It’s tiny. It will work fine for critical things that need to be refrigerated, but it’s not going to be much for storing food.”

  She stirred the pot on the stove before continuing. “I know that every single person who has joined this group is responsible and caring, but I’d bet that none of them give a thought to serving size yet. We are all so used to adding food to our plates without worrying about whether there is enough. So, for now, you and I are going to serve. We will wait until everyone is seated and we will go around with our bowls and give them their food.”

  “But I don’t know how much to give them?” Jaden’s eyes grew wide. “I can’t do that.”

  “Don’t you worry about it,” Mary said with a chuckle. “I will make sure you know how much.”

  “What if they complain that I didn’t give them enough?”

  “Then I will explain it to them. I’ll be right there with you. No one will complain. I promise. If someone questions, I will explain. In fact, I think that before we serve, I should explain what we are doing. It’ll be fine.” She wrapped her arm around Jaden’s shoulder and hugged her.

  Jaden smiled and handed the cutting board full of chopped onions to Mary. “What do you want me to do next?”

  “I need to make a pasta salad. I’ve got the pasta here; I’ve just finished the Italian dressing. Can I get you to blend it all together?”

  “Yes.” Jaden picked up the bowl of pasta and set it on the table. “Do I just dump in the dressing and stir or do I have to do it little by little?”

  “Start out a little at a time. Once it starts mixing good, you can dump the rest and stir it in.”

  Jaden’s tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth as she stirred. She leaned away from the bowl with a satisfied smile on her face.

  “Will this fit in the fridge?”

  Mary shook her head. “Here,” she said pulling a towel off a shelf. “Wet this and drape it over the bowl. It should stay cold until we are ready.”

  Allison stepped in to the bunkhouse from the stable. “Okay,” she said. “What can I do to help?”

  She looked at Jaden. “Hey, I just met the two new families that moved in today. There are a couple of girls close to your age. You should go meet them instead of being in here working. I think you’ll like them.”

  Jaden felt her heart drop. She looked up at Allison.

  “What’s wrong, sweetie?” Allison rushed over.

  “You sound just like my teachers and the principal. ‘You should go out and play with the other kids.’ I met them. I like them. But this is where I want to be. Is that okay?” She was embarrassed by the tears that filled her eyes.

  Allison put her arm around Jaden’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I just thought you might enjoy spending time with other kids. I know you like helping out and we love having you help.”

  She dropped to one knee and grasped Jaden’s hands while she looked up into her eyes. “Just know that anytime you want to go spend time with the other kids, it’ll be great. Anytime. Okay?”

  Jaden nodded. “Okay. Thank you. But right now, we are almost ready to serve.”

  “I think most the guys are outside at the picnic tables. Maybe we should eat out there this evening. It’s beautiful out.”

  The side door opened.

  “Allison,” Sam Smith called. “Don Schmidt is here and he’s got some people with him. They want to see you.”

  Allison moved to the door. “I’ll send a couple of the guys in to carry out plates,” she said over her shoulder.

  Five minutes later, Sam Smith and David Galen came in and picked up the stack of plates. “Give me the silverware too,” Sam said. “I’ll get the tables set.”

  David said, “I’ll be back to get the cups and carry out the pitchers.”

  The casserole Mary had fixed came out of the oven a few minutes later. She set it in a thick straw basket lined with towels. “Would you like to serve the pasta salad while I serve the casserole?” she asked Jaden.

  “How much am I supposed to put on each plate?”

  “Give each adult about this much.” Mary scooped a big scoop to show Jaden. She dumped the scoop back in the bowl. “And each child about this much.” She scooped about half the scoop to show Jaden.

  When they reached the picnic tables, Jaden noticed several new people sitting at the tables. Allison sat with her hands clenched and her face slightly flushed. She introduced the visitors as travelers who knew Don Schmidt, the neighbor.

  After supper, Allison told Jaden that she’d take care of dishes. “Why don’t you take Bella out to the arena and play some frisbee?” At the mention of her favorite toy, Bella’s head rose off her paws. She tilted it so one ear hung down.

  Jaden giggled. “Okay.” She looked at the next table where her new friends sat. “Do you guys want to come with me?”