Daughter of Destiny by Lindsay McKenna Page B

camels is big.”
    Jake eyed the two white geldings. Racing camels were more trim, athletic and slender than normal camel stock. “These must be from your bull, too? They look like him.” Jake knew that Coober would want him to be savvy about anatomy and breeding as well as care and handling. He now thanked his stars that he’d spent that stretch of time working with the sheik and his boys. It was going to pay off handsomely.
    â€œHooley dooley!” Coober said, growing excited again. “It’s just incredible that an American bloke would know so much!”
    â€œSo who do I get to work with here?” Jake asked, gesturing to the two racing geldings.
    â€œWell, mate, I’m gonna let you work with Freddy here. The gelding closest to you that’s eyeing you in a friendly fashion.”
    â€œYou’ve trained them yourself?”
    â€œThat’s right, mate. With love. I don’t believe in beating a camel into submission. There’s galahs—foolish people—at other camel stations out here who do, but I don’t do it.”
    â€œThe sheik taught me that love and firmness are the only way to train a camel,” Jake told him seriously. Camels were too damn intelligent to take a whip to. They couldstrike not only with their front feet, but with their rear ones as well, and they could kill or badly injure an unsuspecting man with a sideways strike, too. If a camel didn’t like you, it would lie in wait to nail you with one of its deadly kicks. Jake had seen one handler, a kid of ten, go flying six feet into the air. The boy had smacked a racing camel in the nose as punishment one day, and came away with a broken leg. No, camels were not animals to push around. Sharing peaceful coexistence based upon trust, respect and appreciation, was the best way to raise and train them.
    Kai watched from outside the corral as the two men slipped between the pipe rails. She admired Jake’s confidence as he walked right up to the proud, arrogant looking camel. Freddy lifted his furry neck high and then tilted his head to one side to gaze down upon him. Kai had to admit that the camel’s huge, sparkling eyes were beautiful. She admired the animal’s grace. When Jake stretched up his hand, Freddy opened his huge, cavernous mouth, revealing large yellowed teeth. Then, with his long, thin pink tongue, he licked Jake’s palm.
    â€œBeauty! You do know your camels, mate,” Coober noted in a pleased voice. “All camels like the salt on the palm of your hand. Camel handlers know that, too. Come on, let me take you into the barn. They’ll follow us like children.”
    Kai decided to head to the barn as well to watch what Jake did. Coober might have them saddle the camels tomorrow, and she had to know how to do it. Stepping into the shade of the building, near the gaping doorway, she felt the hot, dry breeze sweep past her, cooling her slightly.Coober had brought out brushes, a hoof pick of some sort and an odd-looking saddle. Kai wondered how one could saddle a single-humped camel, but now she saw the ingenuous device.
    The saddle had a hole in the middle that fit over the camel’s hump. It was thickly padded, of course, so that the animal’s back wouldn’t be rubbed raw by the metal frame, which was covered in thick, soft red leather. The saddle had two seats, one in front of the hump and one behind. The contraption reminded Kai of a pair of English saddles, with stirrups, and girths wrapped beneath the belly of the camel. This was going to be interesting! She hooked one booted foot up on the fence rail and watched, fascinated.
    Jake was a pro at grooming a camel, she realized as she watched him pick up each of the animal’s huge feet and rest it against his hard, curved thigh. Then he used the hoof pick to clean between the clefts of the velvety, thick footpads. Freddy had taken an instant liking to Jake and stood very patiently while he