The harsh sun beat down on the city of New Broome, the stone and metal buildings slowly heating up. Though it was a cooler day than usual, with noon fast approaching the temperature would only continue to climb.

Shielding his eyes from the blaring sunlight, Caspian followed Percy out the back of the expedition base and into a semi-ranch area. Surrounded by a large fence was a dusty paddock dotted with trees that provided much-needed shade. Beneath said trees were large troughs, taps jutting out of the ground next to them.

The earthy aroma of animals was apparent, the pungent smell causing his forehead to wrinkle. The closer they got to the paddock the worse it got, to the point that he had to start breathing through his mouth just the alleviate the smell.

“What’s that terrible smell?” he muttered, wafting a hand in front of his nose.

“That’d be the camels,” Percy said chuckling. “It’s not that bad, you’ll get used to it eventually.”

Somehow Caspian couldn’t imagine ever getting used to the smell. He wasn’t sure if it was the animals themselves, or the clear piles of dung that littered the paddock that was the cause, but nonetheless, it was foul.

At the back end of the paddock, sat a collection of ramshackle shacks. Haybales and loose straw littered the group, groups of camels quietly sitting inside them. The animals seem incredibly calm, lazing around in the shade munching on hay. A few noticed their arrival, one in particular standing up and making its way over.

“Hey there Bell,” Percy said, the affection in his voice clear as day. “Hey girl.” The camel stuck its head through the fence, its huge nose sniffing about. From out of nowhere, Percy produced a carrot and offered it to Bell. An audible crunch resounded, the camel teeth slowly grinding the carrot down. Rubbing her snout, he continued to pepper the camel with affection. “Come on Caspian don’t be shy, she’s quite friendly.”

Looking at the animal, friendly was the further descriptor in his mind. Frightening maybe, scary perhaps, but definitely not friendly. The camel dwarfed him, standing easily two heads taller than him. Its massive body must of weight half a ton at least, its two humps towering above the rest of its body. Caspian couldn’t fathom how this goliath creature acted so passive, even going so far as to rub his face into Percy's hands.

“Offer her your hand Caspian, and let her get your scent,” Percy said waving him forward.

“What an ominous way to put it,” he thought as he walked up to the fence. The creature's molten brown eyes gazed upon him, its long eyelashes fluttering in the wind. Hesitantly holding a hand out towards it. Its large toothy maw moved towards it, and Caspian had to resist the urge to jerk backwards. Hot, rotten-smelling breath engulfed him as the animal took deep sniffs. The fur on its nose tickled his fingers.

“There you go, she likes you. Feed her one of these,” Percy said, holding out a bright orange carrot.

Taking it, he tentatively held it up to Bell’s mouth. Internally, his mind screamed to make sure it didn’t chomp off any fingers. A long tongue snaked out of its mouth, wrapping around the carrot. With an audible crunch, half the carrot disappeared from sight. Happily munching away, Caspian could have sworn the camel’s eyes were smiling.

“She’s uh, very friendly,” he said, looking at Percy. “Are they all like this?”

“No no, sadly not. Bell here has been with me for years,” he said smiling. “The others are more hit-and-miss, but if you treat them with respect they’ll be friendly enough. They’re here to work same as us.”

“Has there ever been any, yaknow, incidents?” Caspian asked.

“Hmmm, there was one a few years back. Fella got bit, but if you ask me he was asking for it. Totally deserved,” Percy said. “He was fine after, so it was all good in the end.”

Nodding, a warm, wet thing slid along his hand causing him to flinch. Wrenching the rest of the carrot from his grasp, Bell bleated happily as she ate. Shaking his head, Caspian rubbed her nose, the milky brown fur soft on his fingers. She seemed to enjoy it, rubbing her head into his hand to help him along.

“She’s beautiful.”

“Enough fooling around for now,” Percy said clapping his hands. “Let’s get back on topic shall we.”

“You're the boss,” Caspian said, trying to wipe the smell of camel off his hands. He was unsuccessful. “What’s the plan?”

“I’m gonna have you tend to the camels,” he said smiling.

“Oh is that it,” Caspian said, relieved. For a second he thought he was going to have to ride on.

“And then I’ll get you to saddle one up, and go for a little ride,” he finished.

“I have to what?” Caspian said. “That’s impossible. Look at the size of them, I’ve never done anything like this in my life before.”

“All the more reason for you to do it then,” Percy said. “You’ll have to learn someday, and you’ll thank yourself after we’ve been on the road for a week and your legs feel like they’re going to fall off. Trust me, this is something you’re going to want to learn.”

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“Alright, can we take it slow though?” Caspian asked. “They’re a little intimidating.”

“Bell would be heartbroken to hear you say that Caspian,” he said laughing. “Don’t worry, I’ll be there the whole time in case anything happens. Let’s get to it then.”

The beastly odour grew stronger the closer they got to the sheds, a few of the camels emerging to see what was going on. Percy greeted them, offering them all a carrot that he produced from his pockets.

“How many of those does he have?” Caspian wondered. After a few moments, a group of camels had gathered around the fence, and Percy slid shut a gate closing off access to the sheds. Making sure to pat each head, he waved Caspian to follow him around the back.

“Ok so I’m going to get you to clean out the sheds,” he said. Opening a small cupboard, a variety of tools and workwear revealed themselves. “There’s boots and aprons in there which I would recommend wearing, gloves too. Toss all the straw and other bits laying on the floor into these bins, and then put out some more straw for them to lay on.”

“Oh is that all,” Caspian said sighing.

“No haha,” Percy smiled. “I’ll also get you to fill up the water troughs and put some food out for them.” Opening up a tub scribbled with the word feed, he let out a groan. “I’ll have to bring some more feed down from the garage. You just get to work, don’t worry about the camels they can’t get it, they may spit at you so watch out for that.”

“Yeah ok, wait what? They’ll spit on me,” he said confused. “What?”

“Yeah, they’re camels. Camels spit, don’t worry about it,” Percy said waving him off. “I’ll be back in a bit.” Starting the trek back to the garage, a faint good luck reached Caspian's ear.

“Good luck my ass,” he muttered, looking in the tool cupboard. The tools were well used from the smell of it, his eyes watering. Taking off his shoes, he slid into one of the pairs of boots. They were old and worn, and he had to take them off to empty the sand out of them. The apron was little more than a thin sheet of rubber, with a piece of rope to loop over your head and wrap around your waist. The gloves were in better condition, something he was grateful for.

Grabbing a pitchfork, he undid the rusted latch and stepped into the shed. Where the scent of animal had been strong before, now it was all-encompassing. His eyes watering, he tried to block the scent out as he looked around. Straw littered the floor, dung scattered all over the place with flies buzzing lazily around it. Caspian was glad he hadn’t eaten for a while.

Stepping out to catch his breath, he sucked in the air. It wasn’t much better out here. Dragging one of the large bins he reentered the shed, determined to start. Trying to breathe through his mouth, he started to shovel the straw and other bits into the bin. A single piece of straw was all his first scoop managed to get to the bin, the rest slipping through the prongs of the pitchfork. Annoyed, he tried again, only to receive the same result.

“Ughh,” he groaned, this was awful. This hadn’t been the life of adventure he had envisioned for so many years. “It’s just one day,” he told himself. “Just get through it.”

Calmer, he managed to get more into the bin with his next attempt. Using the pitchfork as a makeshift rake, he brushed the debris into large piles before picking it up. His too slid easily underneath it, the weight stopping much from failing off. Into the bin it went. Like that he toiled, sweat starting to bead on his forehead. Before he knew it the bin was full, and his back was sore.

“Jeez,” sigh muttered. He had to be careful not to touch himself with his hands, the gloves covered in filth. Straining to drag the bin out, he grabbed the next one in the row. “Looks like it’ll take another bin and a bit,” he thought, the smells getting easier to deal with the longer he worked.

Jumping back into his task, he fell into a rhythm. Sweep, sweep, sweep. When the pile grew large enough, under the pitchfork would go gathering it all up. Sometimes he’d have to hold it in place, careful not to look too closely at whatever he was touching. Scoop and toss, scoop and toss. The shed started to really clean up, the hard floor still covered in grim, but at least now it was visible. The removal of excrement also helped.

Gathering up the last strands of straw with his hands, he surveyed his work. He’d underestimated the amount, the third bin about half full. Taking his gloves off he wiped his brow of sweat, catching his breath. The bins had started to heat up in the sun, making the smell of dung much more potent. “I wonder how he deals with all this,” he thought. “He’d never really thought too hard about where all the city's waste went.” After following some lines of thought, the obvious realisation dawned on him. “Farms. Of course, they probably use it as fertilizer.”

Drumming his fingers, he wondered what the rest of the recruits were up to. It had to be better than his day. His eyes narrowed as a thought came to him. “I’ll have to grill Percy about that,” he muttered. Looking over at the shed, he cracked his neck. “Back to it, I guess.”

Now that the floor was tidy, next on his list was to refill the troughs. “Water, water, water. Where’s the water kept.” Searching the shed, he found no trace of any. Looking around the outside, he found a tap but nothing to move the water in. “Maybe the tool cupboard?”

Rummaging around inside, he spotted an old rusted barrel. Rolling it out, red dust scraped off of it floating into the air. Careful not the breathe any in, he placed it underneath the tap and turned it on. A flood of murky discoloured water gushed out, spraying into the barrel and up onto him. Turning down the pressure, he spat out the few drops that had gotten into his mouth. The water was earthy and stale.

Watching the barrel fill, he looked down to see he was soaked, through and through. Normally he’d be annoyed, but the water had washed away some of the sweat, making the heat of the day seem a little more bearable. Feeling a little refreshed, he turned the tap off when the water level reached about halfway. A large hole was situated in the upper half of the barrel. Taking a deep breath, he tried to heft it up, but his leg started to complain.

“No heavy lifting got it,” he muttered, heaving out a sigh. Rocking it back and forth, he gradually edged it inside the shed and emptied it into one of the troughs. The water barely reached a quarter full. “Ugh this is worse than the cleaning,” he complained. There were multiple of the same size troughs in the shed, so he’d need to do a dozen trips.

Unlike before, he wasn’t able to enter a flow state, the barrel too cumbersome to move with any real ease. Each trip was draining, the rest period as the water poured back into the barrel his only reprieve. His limbs were sore with exhaustion now, his breathing bordering on ragged. His first trip had only taken half a minute, but the more trips he made the slower they got.

The sound of water slapping into water filled the hot shed, Caspian letting out a sigh of relief as the final trough filled to the brim. Leaving the barrel where it sat, he stumbled outside and collapsed in the shade of the tool cupboard. The water that had splashed him had dried completely, replaced with a thick coating of sweat. Catching his breath, he rested for a few moments.

Sitting there, movement from up by the garage caught his eye. Percy was coming down, two large tubs in his arms.

“Finally,” he gasped. He felt like he’d been out here forever.