“Go get some clean straw so we can clean the baby down when it comes,” she told Rory. He scurried off to do her bidding and Maddy got to work.
Oh, hell. Where was Deryn when you needed him? Steeling herself, she examined the ewe. The lamb’s hind legs were already out but didn’t seem to be progressing any further.
You’ve got this, she told herself.You can do it.
Taking a deep breath, she took hold of the lamb’s back legs and pulled, doing her best to keep the lamb’s back straight. It inched slowly out and when the pelvis was clear, she changed the angle and pulled downwards instead, just like she’d seen the vets do on the TV. She gritted her teeth, hoping she wasn’t doing more harm than good, and then went giddy with relief as the lamb finally emerged and flopped into the straw. The ewe slewed around and started licking her baby and the lamb gave a plaintive bleat.
Rory came scrambling over, double fistfuls of clean hay in his hands and stared with a wide-eyed look of wonder on his face.
“Do you want to help the mama to clean her baby?” Maddy said.
Rory nodded and used a handful of straw to gently wipe down the little lamb. Maddy sat back in the straw, breathing heavily, glad it was all over. She had never done anything like that before in her life. A city girl through and through, her experience with farm animals was limited to the times she’d taken Rory to the local farm park to pet the goats and lamas.
Jeez, I really need to get home, she thought.This place will turn me into a damned farmer if I’m not careful!
The ewe suddenly started panting again, her flanks heaving. She bleated loudly and began kicking her back legs in the straw. Maddy gently moved the lamb away so it wouldn’t get kicked and then crouched by the sheep’s side.
“Twins,” she said. “Oh, shit.”
“Mama! You said a bad word!”
“Yeah. Sorry.”
The ewe was heaving more than she had the first time and this time there was nothing for Maddy to grab onto to help with the delivery. The hind feet hadn’t emerged properly and seemed to be bent back on themselves. She gulped. What was she going to do?
“Rory, take the lamb over there and keep it warm,” she instructed her son. He lifted the lamb in an armload of straw and went to sit over by the far wall.
Maddy rubbed her forehead.Think! What do they do in the vet programmes?She couldn’t remember. She was at the limit of her knowledge and the ewe was really beginning to struggle. She was flopped on her side, mouth open and eyes rolling.
No!Maddy thought.This can’t be happening!
Then the door burst open. Deryn stood outlined in it for a moment and then he was striding towards her and kneeling in the straw by her side, examining the ewe. His face was creased with concern.
“I heard ye calling me,” he muttered, looking the ewe over. “Damn it.”
He glanced around, taking in Rory sitting with the first lamb in his lap and Maddy crouched with straw in her hair and her sleeves rolled up to her elbows.
“Ye delivered the first one?”
She nodded. “But I’ve no idea how to deliver the second. Can you help her?”
Deryn ran his hands over the ewe’s heaving flanks. “It’s a breech birth,” he said. “I’m going to need yer help.”
Deryn had obviously done this many times before. He clicked into a practiced routine, straightening out the lamb’s legs and then asking Maddy’s help to pull. They worked diligently together, Maddy following Deryn’s instructions carefully until finally, the lamb emerged and sat blinking at the world. Deryn indicated for Rory to bring the other one over and he placed the two next to their mother who began cleaning them whilst they took their first feed.
Deryn sat back on his haunches and looked at Maddy. He grinned suddenly and Maddy found herself grinning in response. That had been...amazing.
“Thank ye, lass,” he said. “For yer help. I might have lost the ewe and both lambs if ye hadnae been here.”
“Glad I could help,” she said with a shrug. “We make quite the team, don’t we?”
“Aye,” he said softly. “We do.”
Maddy felt something flutter in her stomach then they both spoke at the same time.
“Listen, lass, I— ”
“I wanted to say—”
