It’s a touchy subject, asking about work. Until a year ago, she was the high-school librarian, but the town didn’t pass the school budget and they cut her position. Now she works part-time for the same real-estate company as my dad, doing filing and things, but it makes her sad. Plus the school gave good family health benefits and my dad’s job doesn’t, so it’s even more stressful. A group of parents got together to try to petition to get her job back, but so far they haven’t had any luck. She keeps hoping that if the economy gets better, maybe people will be more willing to vote for the budget again. But the economy just keeps getting worse.

“No news yet,” my mom says, shuffling bills and papers spread across the messy dining-room table.

I wish I hadn’t asked.

“I’ll give you my earnings from the Townsends,” I say. “To help out.”

She pauses and smiles at me. “Thanks, honey. But you keep it. We’ll manage.”

We’ll manage is something my parents say a lot. But lately when they say it, they don’t sound too convincing.

Chapter Five

On Monday morning, I take care of Rainbow, then walk over to the Townsends’ house to start my summer job. The dew on the grass seeps into my sneakers, and my feet are soaked and uncomfortable by the time I reach the horse barn.

Ben and Gil’s horsey smell greets me as soon as I get close. It’s much stronger than Rainbow’s. Maybe because there are two of them and they are at least twice his size. I don’t mind it, really. Horses have a certain comforting smell, like hay breath and warm fur. Ben and Gil snuffle at me and shake their heads hello. I measure their grain and put it into their buckets. While they eat, I go through the corral and open their stall doors so they can go out to the pasture, then fill their trough with water. They stay inside for a bit, still busy licking their grain buckets clean. They flick their tails at the summer flies and lift their feet to shift their weight. They’re so quiet and peaceful. I think Mr. Townsend is right that they’re happy with their retirement. They’re certainly lucky to end up here, in this fancy barn with wooden floors and their own refrigerator filled with treats.

When Ben and Gil wander outside, I go into their stalls and shovel out their manure. There’s a place behind the barn to make a manure pile, which Mr. Townsend said will make great fertilizer. But they don’t have a garden yet, so I’m not sure what he plans to fertilize.