Word Count: 343.
Learning is a process. Grace knew that, and she fully expected that Hadley would be slower than she was. When she finished on her side, she looped around and did some of his, and they met in the middle. She grinned at him and paced down his line, checking each of the stalls to ensure that it was done correctly. He'd done well, his slow pace justified by the meticulousness of his work. She gave praise where praise was due. "Excellent! If you practice, you'll be as fast as I am in no time. Then I'll have no choice but to hire you." She wasn't sure that she needed the help, but if he stayed in AniWaya, it would give him something to do. He needed some distraction.
Stalls fully mucked, Grace sat down on a hay bale and yawned. "Well, I was going to offer to teach you to ride, but I'm thinking that food is sounding pretty appealing right now. What do you think?" Stretching briefly, she looked at herself and sighed. "You know, and I think that perhaps a bath wouldn't hurt anything, either." She looked down at her seated form and shook her head. Mucking stalls was dirty business, even if you were careful, and Grace just didn't have the time or energy to be that careful when she did this every day. She'd clean up and change clothes, and all would be well.
She stood up slowly, the gears turning as she did. Her face lit up. "Let's hunt down some rabbits. The snow will clean us off, and the rabbits will be tasty. Hmm?" She looked at him expectantly and continued. "I'll even hunt on four legs. You'll get a laugh or a dozen out of that! Don't worry, I can catch a rabbit - just not much else!" She laughed enthusiastically and jumped up. "Okay, let's go home. I've got to soak my clothes in a bucket of cold water, so they don't stain." She took off for home. Hadley would be along, she was sure.