twenty feet wide. The dugout reminded Christina of one of her father’s
pools, and she wanted to laugh. There was no way he would ever set a toe
in that slimy bog.
“I like it,” she exclaimed.
“Me too!” Chloe said. She twirled around in a circle, turning her head
up to the sky. She seemed to have been re-energized at being back on the
farm just like Peppy was.
“Make sure you stay away from the edges,” Taylor warned Chloe. “Far,
far away.”
“I know. I didn’t forget.” Chloe’s nose wrinkled. “It’s scummy and it
smells.”
“It was scummy and it smelled when we left too,” Taylor laughed.
“Yeah, that’s why I only swim in Meemaw’s kids’ pool.”
Chloe picked up a stick that she found on the ground and threw it for
Peppy. He ran off after it happily. He brought it back and she threw it for
him again. They played the game endlessly while Christina and Taylor
watched. Their hands were still linked. Christina loved that warm heat
pressed against her palm. She could almost still feel Taylor’s soft, eager lips
against hers. God, she wanted to kiss her more than anything.
Moooooooooo! Mooooooo!
“Agh!” Christina turned, expecting to find a cow right behind them, the
bellow had been so loud, but when she spun around, there was nothing
there. “That’s crazy,” she panted. “I could have sworn…”
“Ghost moos,” Taylor laughed. “That’s what we call them.” She pointed
to where the ground sloped up in the distance. “They’re just over there. We
can’t see them right now, but there are a few of them close by.”
“How do you know it’s more than one?”
“It probably is. They like to walk in groups.”
“Really?”
“Sometimes. Don’t worry. At the end of the night, they’ll come in and