The afternoon sun bounced ripples of heat from the ground, even under the protective shade of the big old Camel thorn trees.

"This scene doesn't work for me," Pagliani said to Harris, and I almost groaned.

We'd been working on it all day, but one or the other nitpicked the details, and the constant contact with Druscilla frayed my nerves.

"What do you want to do?" Harris asked.

"You look tired," Dean said, watching the sheep mill about under the massive old tree.

We filmed this scene on a neighboring sheep farm, and the farmer spent the last two days teaching us how to handle the animals. Apart from the exhausting and physically intense labor, it was sweaty, stinky, and draining.

Druscilla tried to weasel her way out of having to do anything, but Pagliani wouldn't allow her to shirk. He wanted a slice of authentic farm life.

Thabisho sat beside us, dressed as one of the farmers "helping out" Druscilla's character.

"Do you think we'll be done in time for dinner?" he asked.

"Not if Pagliani wants to do this again," I said.

After nearly two months of working with him, I'd gotten to know him much better.

"I want them to fetch the runaway sheep with horses. Real farmers of the era would not chase after animals on foot."

"Mercedes can't ride," Druscilla reminded with a self-satisfied little smirk.

Despite her aversion to animals, we only had to redo a few scenes. The sheep didn't seem to mind her, and they were much easier to work with than expected.

But it was a complicated scene with lots of subtext that had to be worked in around animals that suddenly ran in the wrong direction, complained in the middle of dialogue, and bowled over camera or sound equipment.

Gianni almost ended up in the feed trough. Michelle backed up to give me room to walk forward and fell over a sheep on her butt. The "almost kiss between me and Dean" scene turned into a headbutt when two sheep backed into me.

"We need the horse herding scene," Pagliani decided hours later.

"I can teach her to ride, but herding animals with horses is dangerous. The horses know what to do, and they are gonna wanna do it.

"They might unexpectedly react to situations in a way that might unseat her, and I think it would be rather dangerous," Sebastiaan, the neighboring farmer, said with a frown.

"Try it. We'll concentrate on Dean and Druscilla, but Arielle was an accomplished rider, and I want at least a few scenes with Mercedes on a horse," Harris agreed with Pagliani.

"Continue with the scenes you want with the other two, and I'll see if we can at least teach her some control over the animal," Sebastian agreed reluctantly. "But hear me good, this is stupid and dangerous."

"I don't know if this is a good plan," Thabisho said to Sebastian when he reached us.

"They pay me a lot of money, Thabisho, but I won't let them risk Mercedes' health. Let's see if she has an affinity for riding before I decide. I've taught many yuppies how to ride, but I can't teach her what she needs to know in a couple of hours."

Sebastian had to boost me onto the horse the first couple of times, and he made me get off and on several times until I could lift myself into the saddle.

My legs were shaking from the effort, and it was terrifyingly high once I was up there. He explained the mechanics of riding, showed me how to handle the reins, and then got on a horse and taught me how to ride.

It wasn't complicated, but there was much to keep track of.

At least the horse wasn't as spirited as the one he rode.

"You're going to be physically sore tomorrow if we do much more, but you're a natural. You have an excellent posture, a good seat, and it doesn't look like this is your first time on a horse.

"The horse isn't bouncing you around like a sack of potatoes, you naturally move with the animal, and it's a bonus that Chewy likes you. He'll take care of you; just pay attention to his movements."

I never thought I'd like riding or would be good at it. Yes, it was high, scary, and a little intimidating, but it was also exhilarating.

Loving animals helped.

"Would she be able to do a scene with us?" Pagliani asked when we returned to the set.

"In my opinion, it's one thing to ride at a steady pace or gallop; it is another thing to add other animals into the mix. Yes, I didn't expect her to catch on so easily, but things can go wrong. I would advise waiting a few days. She's also been on that horse for hours, and I wouldn't push it now."

"We can do the scene where they ride off after the sheep—the only other animals in that scene is the sheepdog and the other horses. All Mercedes needs to do is to keep pace and stay on the horse," Harris advised.

"Do you think you can handle that?" he asked, and I sighed.

As much as I enjoyed riding, I was ready to get off that horse, but I nodded because he expected it, and I was used to caving to his will. My better judgment didn't agree, nor did my butt.

Although I was a little nervous, we made our way through the gate, which I had to close behind us, which was rather tricky.

The first time I overbalanced and nearly fell off the horse. Only Thabisho's quick thinking saved me from sliding head-first into the ground as he jumped off the coral fence where he perched and stopped me from slipping before pushing me back onto the horse.

Rattled, it took four takes to get it right, but then we were off, and although it was quite a short distance to the next gate, one of the horses stumbled.

On the second try, the mounted camera came loose from the rail and nearly broke.

A curious neighbor decided to stop by and derailed the third attempt.

The fourth try worked perfectly, but Pagliani wasn't happy with the camera angles, and ditto for the fifth, sixth, and seventh take.

"Mr. Pagliani, Mercedes, can't take much more of this. She'll be too stiff to walk tomorrow," Sebastiaan protested when we reset for the eighth time. "It has been a long and physically demanding day. Even I am tired."

"One more take."

One thing about Pagliani, he didn't stop until he was happy.

Thabisho had to help me off the horse, and my body ached already.

"Tomorrow won't be fun," he warned me.

"At least it's Sunday."

"One day won't be enough rest for you to recover from this," Dean said, joining us.

"Mercedes, I'm proud of you for being such a trooper," Harris said, walking beside us to the camper, "but we did push you too far. Unfortunately, we must continue shooting this scene on Monday, and we need to be done by Wednesday. By then, you might not be too fond of horse riding."

"Have you not pushed us all too far? Why are you only proud of her?" Druscilla muttered.

"Because she's not used to riding horses or physically fit, yet she did everything you did without complaining."

"Should we applaud her efforts?" Druscilla asked, her gaze on me like crystalline daggers. "We didn't make her fat, unfit, and ungainly. She looked like a monkey on the back of that horse."

None of us expected Harris to grab her by her arm and swing her around to face him. For a second, I thought he would slap her, and so did she.

"Desist; I've had enough of you tearing Mercedes apart. When have you had to overcome anything in your life? Everything comes easily to you, you don't have anything holding you back, and you were blessed with effortless beauty.

"To add insult to injury, you have a bloody constitution like a pig and can eat anything you want without consequences. None of that makes you a better person than anyone else.

"You didn't work for it; it was handed to you. You never had to starve yourself, and you are a natural athlete. Stop judging other people when you've never faced a day of adversity in your life.

"With every advantage humanly possible, you are bitter, asinine, and ungrateful for your blessings. If you make one more remark aimed at anyone on this production for anything they are struggling with, I swear to God that I will fire you, start over with someone else, and disown you."

"Why do you always take her side? Did you spank a little fat while she was your assi..."

Harri's palm collided with her face, and her knees almost buckled, the imprint of his hand an angry red on her cheek.

Her shocked expression said that he had never lost his temper with her.

Anger fired through my veins at the slur to me, but the tightness of Harris' frame, the fire in his eyes, and the way his hands fisted made me fear for him as the veins in his neck popped.

Never had I seen him this enraged, and Druscilla realized instantly she had gone too far, maybe even past the point of no return.

Had she momentarily forgotten this was her father and not just some producer she could goad because she was a "star?"

"Daddy, I am s..."

"Do not speak to me. No one has ever disrespected me in such a way," he bit the words out one by one. "Be gone from my sight before I forget myself."

She stalked off, glancing over her shoulder only once, and for a second, she almost looked forlorn, tears brimming in her eyes. If she were anyone else, I would have pitied her.

"I'm truly sorry, Mercedes, that a child of mine should disrespect you in such a vulgar manner," Harris said, his manner so stiff he could barely turn his head.

"You should not apologize for Druscilla, Harris," Dean said, angry on my behalf.

"My father would have pulled her over his knees and introduced her to the buckle end of a belt, grown woman or not," Sebastian said.

"As is, I wouldn't be surprised if she lodges an assault case against me," Harris said, wiping his face with his hands, and his fingers were shaking.

"Even Druscilla won't do that," I said, "and your opinion of her weighs more than you can ever imagine. She knows she went too far."

(Version 2)