Majesty smiled and put my sneakers in a bag the cashier offered, then we hurried outside. He motioned toward a dirt path lined with fences and sunlit grass that led to a large red barn. A hand-painted sign above the door read:Reese’s Perfectly Imperfect Animal Rescue.
“Perfectly imperfect,” I said aloud. “That’s… kind of perfect.”
“Fits her and the crew inside,” Majesty replied, holding the barn door open for me.
The moment I stepped in, I was hit with the sound of bleating goats, soft clucks, and one very bossy voice that didn’t sound human.
“I’m the boss!” squawked a gray parrot perched high on a post.
“Bossy P,” Majesty said, pointing up with a grin. “He’s Reese’s African Grey. Thinks he runs the place—and honestly, he’s not wrong.”
“I’m the boss!” the parrot repeated, fluffing his feathers. Then, “Find the duck!”
Majesty muttered under his breath, “He always says that right before the goats cause trouble.”
“Go to the barn!” the bird added, which made Majesty roll his eyes.
“Already in the barn, genius.”
That made me laugh, and the bird squawked as if laughing back.
Just then, a woman emerged from one of the side stalls. Petite, blonde, with soft blue eyes and a strand of hay in her hair, she was wearing denim overalls and a shirt with a faded cartoon cow on the front. She looked about twenty-five, maybe younger, with a kind of sunshine energy that brightened the entire space.
“Oh, Majesty! You brought someone new!” she said, brushing her hands off on her overalls as she approached.
“Reese, this is Cami,” Majesty said. “Cami, this is Reese—she runs this whole place and somehow manages to keep Bossy P from a full-scale mutiny.”
Reese laughed softly. “That’s generous. Mostly, I just bribe him with almonds.” She turned to me with an easy smile. “Hi, Cami. Welcome to the zoo.”
Bossy P immediately squawked again. “Kiss the girl!”
Reese covered her face. “Oh my God, not that again. Arlo taught him that after we watchedThe Little Mermaid. He thinks it’s funny.”
Majesty smirked. “Your Daddy’s got a sense of humor, I’ll give him that.”
I blinked at the term, but Reese didn’t seem embarrassed. Just happy. “Yeah, he does,” she said softly, the affection in her tone obvious. “He’s around somewhere—probably fixing the duck pond again or up with the horses. Howard’s been redecorating.”
“Howard?” I asked.
“Our white duck,” she explained with a grin. “He thinks the pond’s layout offends him personally.”
Majesty leaned down slightly toward me. “Wait till you meet Ryan Goosling.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“The goose,” Reese said, biting back a smile. “You’ll understand when you hear him hiss. He’s got a flair for drama.”
Majesty and Reese led me through the pens—Clara and Clancy the goats. Clancy fainted when he saw a bird. Wilbur and Babe the pigs, and a trio of cows named Elsa, Anna, and Stella. Reese introduced each one with the pride of a mother showing off her kids.
“Michelangelo’s around here somewhere,” she said, looking down. “Tortoise. He’s about forty. Moves faster when he smells strawberries.”
“Same,” I said, smiling.
Bossy P suddenly flapped his wings from above and yelled, “Go to the barn! Go to the barn!”
Reese sighed. “That’s his way of saying it’s feeding time.”
She gave Majesty a knowing look. “Arlo’s going to want you to help me with hay bales later. We’ll both be in trouble if you disappear.”
