A group of rowdy, impulsive delinquent boys staying at the ranch this summer. To make it worse, they are all criminals. This should be interesting. It had been my dad’s idea. Before him and mom had died, he had set up a special program at the ranch called Outreach which was supposed to keep boys my age out of trouble by putting them to work with the horses. Their ages range from fifteen to nineteen years old and they all have committed some sort of criminal act. I am not scared or anything, Kaylee Daniels does not get scared, but I am concerned how it is going to go now that it is just grandpa and I. This was our first time running the program without dad and I will admit that I am a bit nervous.

I walk out to the barn and begin to brush down horses. I walk into the tack room and grab some hair ties to pull up my caramel colored curls. The heat in Kentucky in the middle of June is almost too much to bear.

The boys will be arriving soon and I still have 10 horses to get ready. We own a total of 34 horses on the ranch, so it is a bit of a challenge to keep up with them all. Especially because Brad, our old groom, quit because I broke up with him. I only did because he was a lazy bum and didn’t care about anyone but himself. If I ever date again, I shouldn’t be able to beat the guy up, he should be taller than me and he should be somewhat protective. Thinking back, I’m not sure why I started dating Brad. He didn’t meet any of those stipulations.

Finally finished with the rest of the horses, I decide to go work my horse Sham. His full name was Shameless, but I am too lazy to say that all the time. He is a huge 16 hand black quarter horse gelding. He isone hundred percent black and is blind in his right eye due to the abuse of his previous owner.

I walk him out of his stall and tie him to one of the brass rings outside. I brush him down until his coat shines and then brush out his mane and tail. One of Sham’s great traits is his mane. It is extremely long. It hits the middle of his leg and I normally have it braided back because it gets in his way. I am not in the mood to spend two hours trying to braid back that mess, so I’m leaving it alone. I also don’t feel like saddling him up so I unhook him from the ring, grab a handful of mane and heave myself onto his back. Sometimes, bareback is better than using a saddle.

We just walk for the most part. I am feeling distracted and I think Sham could sense that. I was thinking about my parents and how much I missed them, but I didn’t want to think about that heart-wrenching day. It is too soon for that. I finally got out of my head and noticed that we were almost upon the field that separated the forest from our 200-acre ranch. Time for some fun! I clapped my heels against Sham’s sides and we were off full speed across the field. It felt like his hooves weren’t even touching the ground anymore. Another great trait about Sham, he is insanely fast, but extremely smooth to ride.

When we get back, the two busses of boys are beginning to unload. I pull Sham into a walk and begin to look at each guy as they walk off the busses. Many have tattoos and piercings and the air seems to crackle with hatred as they begin to form groups in front of the circle of cabins that they are calling home for the summer. They are all wearing jeans, boots and Carhart jackets even though it is the middle of summer. I thought that they would all show up in black and white striped jumpsuits.

Sham gives out a loud snort and they all turn and look at us. I feel like I have walked into a pack of hungry wolves. Some of them seem intimidated by Sham’s massiveness. Others were staring straight at me. It makes me feel defensive and on edge, but surprisingly, not scared. Then again, I am not easily intimidated.

I ignore their intense stares and the awkward silence that settles into the crowd and put Sham back in his stall. Grandpa told me this morning that I would be giving a clinic on how to ride and have to train all of the boys on the way we did things around there. It should be interesting. I was not patient and I didn’t take bullshit from anyone.

When all of them were unloaded and all of their belongings were in their assigned cabins, they all filed into the barn and began to talk rather loudly. The horses were becoming restless with all of the noise and then one of them spooked and began banging on their door. That was the last straw for me and I grabbed a bucket, turned it over and stood on it and yelled “Shut up and listen up!” They all turned to look at me with surprised looks. Yeah that’s right, I went there! “You are spooking the horses, if you idiots haven’t noticed, so if you will please shut your mouths, I wont have to kick anyone’s butts. Thank you” I said and then stepped down and went to find grandpa.

This is going to be one long summer.