Owners who worked all week arrived to ride their horses, complain, ask for favors, and give excuses for not paying their horse's boarding fee that month. The parking area was crisscrossed with cars and pickups, and the center aisle in the barn was jammed with people grooming their horses. Jan finished her usual chores and then worked steadily at stripping the tack room. What time she had left she spent with Dove. Sunday, Mom worked on enclosing the shed, and Jan helped her measure and cut and nail boards in place. Between school, homework, and helping her mother with chores, as well as taking care of Dove, Jan stayed very busy all week. On Thursday night, she made her fudge, stirring and testing, stirring and testing, until a drip from the end of a fork formed a soft ball in a glass of cold water. When the candy cooled enough to cut, she tasted a corner piece that had crumbled at the edge. Lo and behold, it was good! Feeling triumphant, Jan packed the fudge in plastic wrap in a small pink-and-white box that had once held stationery her grandmother had sent her.
