I grab my hat, sprint outside, Boone bounding next to me like he’s tuned to my pulse. Dust kicks up behind Jasper as we tear across the yard toward the pasture. My lungs burn, my legs protest, but I’m already bracing for something awful.
I crest the small rise and see them.
Cattle sprawled across the grass, some struggling weakly, some panting, some… limp. At least a dozen. Maybe more.
A punch lands in my ribs so hard it almost drops me.
“What the hell is this?” I kneel beside the closest heifer, pressing a hand to her belly. She’s breathing, but off. Labored.
Boone whines, pacing around us.
“I don’t know,” Jasper says, voice shaking. “I was checking the north fence when one just… went down. Thought it was a fluke. Then another. Then three more.”
“Did you call Billy?”
“His phone’s off. He had that meeting with Grant this morning.”
Right. The meeting about sponsorship, next season’s events, all that mayor-approved rodeo planning he couldn’t miss.
“Damn it.” I push myself up. “Try again, but don’t count on him picking up. I’ll get Tex.”
My hand shakes a little when I take out my phone. Not from panic—yet—but from the thousand calculations firing in my head.
If this spreads through the herd, we’re done for the season. Maybe longer. And who knows if it’s contagious.
The horses are stabled not far from here. If they catch something…
I call Tex. He doesn’t answer.
Of course he doesn’t answer.
“Try calling the vet,” I tell Jasper.
He freezes. “The vet?”
Dr. Archer’s face flashes in my mind. Sedona’s father. Gone only days ago.
We don’t have a town vet anymore.
I swallow hard. “The migratory clinic. The one with the Austin office. They handle emergencies for rural areas.”
“Right. Yeah.” Jasper fumbles for his phone. “I’ll call.”
I crouch by another cow and run my palm along her muzzle. Her eyes are glassy, her breathing uneven. She’s warm—too warm.
Boone noses her flank like he’s checking for himself.
“Hang on, girl,” I murmur. My throat feels like it’s full of sand.
I scan the field. This is bad. This is catastrophic.
Even one sick cow is a whole ordeal. But this many? All at once?
Something is tearing through them fast.
My phone buzzes. Tex is calling back.
I snatch it up. “Tex?—”
