Bo had lived with Mary and Joseph for three months. He had to admit, it was a lot better than being at the mill. Mary fed him and took care of him. And it was fun watching her belly grow. The baby was almost ready to be born.
One morning, Mary took the wood boards off Bo’s leg and wrapped it in just the cloth.
“Looks like you’re healed up!” she said. “Feeling better?”
They were outside, in a donkey pen Joseph had built for Bo that was connected to his carpenter’s workshop. Joseph was busy packing bundles of clothing and supplies into a large cart.
“All I’m saying is it’s unfair,” Joseph complained to Mary. “You know, to make all these people drop everything for the census. And for us to travel to Bethlehem, especially in your condition.”
“Joseph, I’m not dying,” Mary said. “It’s just a little road trip. We’ll be fine.”
She sat on a stool and leaned back against the fence. Bo walked up to her and she rubbed his belly. He closed his eyes and smiled.
“You know, most donkeys have to work,” Joseph said. “You’re spoiling him.”
He leaned over and whispered in Bo’s ear. “She’s spoiling you!” Then he headed upstairs to get another bundle.
Dave flew into the workshop and landed near Bo.
“Hey, look at you!” he cried. “Your leg’s all better.”
“Hey, Dave!” Bo greeted him.
Dave perched near Bo’s ear and whispered to him. “All right, time to activate Operation Kick Me Out!” he said. “What’s your plan of attack?”
“Uh, first I thought I’d let her finish this belly rub,” Bo said lazily.
“Snap out of it!” Dave cried. “A little bird named Methuselah told me the Royal Caravan will be passing through not too far from here! We can catch them if we leave soon.”
Bo hopped to his feet. “All right. Let’s get kicked outta here!”
Joseph dropped the last of the bundles into the cart. “All packed up! Is the donkey ready?” he asked.
Bo and Dave looked at each other, both thinking the same thing.
Ready for what?
Mary stood up. “Yep! His leg looks good as new.”
“Finally!” Joseph said. “Time for him to earn his keep.”
He picked up a rope lasso and faced Bo. Bo crouched and glared at him.
“All right, Bo,” Joseph said calmly. “Let’s get you hitched up to this cart so you can take us to Bethlehem.”
“Bethlehem!” Dave cried. “Not good, not good. The Royal Caravan is nowhere near Bethlehem!”
“Don’t worry,” Bo said. “He’s got to catch me first.”
Joseph tried to throw the rope around Bo’s neck, and Bo darted out of the way. Joseph tried again, but Bo just moved out of the way again.
Mary tried to help. “Joseph, maybe if you just—”
“Don’t worry, Mary. I’ve got this,” Joseph said firmly.
Bo backed farther into the pen.
“Well, looks like you got me,” Joseph said. He turned and acted like he was giving up. But then he whirled around and lassoed Bo around the neck!
Joseph gave a triumphant cry. “Come here! Ha!”
Bo looked down at his neck and realized that he’d been caught. He glared at Joseph and quickly moved back, pulling Joseph right into a fence post. Bonk! Joseph banged his head.
“Ooh, that looked like it hurt!” Mary said.
“It did,” Joseph replied, rubbing the top of his head.
Bo looked at Dave. “How was that?”
“Look out!” Dave yelled.
Joseph ran to Bo and grabbed him by the rope around his neck. He dragged Bo over to Mary.
“See? Under control,” Joseph said.
Bo pulled back again, and Joseph fell to his knees.
“Joseph!” Mary cried in alarm.
Joseph stood up. “No, no. I’m okay.”
“You know, we can walk to Bethlehem,” Mary said. “No problem.”
Joseph scowled at Bo. “Useless donkey.”
He slipped off the rope around Bo’s neck and walked over to the cart, followed by Mary.
“Nicely done!” Dave congratulated Bo.
“I thought so,” Bo said. “Did you see how I laid him out on the ground?”
“Those caravan horses have nothing on you!” Dave told him.
“Okay, so now what?” Bo asked.
“Easy,” Dave replied. “All we have to do is slip through the gate when they’re on their way out.”
They looked toward the gate—and saw that Mary was already closing it.
“No, no, no! Don’t close the gate!” Bo yelled.
He ran toward the gate, and Mary closed it in his face with a chuckle.
“I know, I’ll miss you too,” she said. “Don’t worry. We’ll be back soon.”
Bo banged on the gate with his head, but it was too sturdy to break through. As he watched Mary and Joseph disappear in the distance, a wave of sadness came over him. But it wasn’t because he had missed his chance to join the Royal Caravan.
It was because he was going to miss Mary. He’d been so distracted by Dave’s escape plan that he’d forgotten how nice Mary had been to him. How she took such good care of him, and healed his leg, and rubbed his belly.
“I guess that was good-bye,” Bo said with a sigh.
“You’re not gonna cry, are you?” Dave asked, flying up to the gate. “Come on, we’ve got to figure out a way to open this thing!”