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“Did you tell him we were coming?” Maggie asked.
“I did. He has a surprise for you,” Dave said, glancing over his shoulder.
The exterior lights were on, and Justin came around from the back of the cottage, a grin so wide they could see it in the night. Approaching the truck, Justin rubbed his hands today, bending forward to kiss Maggie.
“Something happened while you were gone,” he said, looking into Maggie’s eyes. He looked up at his brother and Katrina. “Come with me.”
Maggie was unable to speak, afraid she’d burst into tears, figuring out quickly what the surprise was going to be. Then she saw it. There was just enough light from the spotlight on the back of the cottage. Beautiful Raven, standing proudly, with a black colt next to her on wobbly legs.
“What do you think?” Justin asked, his arm about her shoulders.
“Why is she in the shed? How did that happen? It’s like she’s in the manger.”
“She came down the trail and whinnied outside in the yard. I could hear her. She might have been looking for you. I watched, but didn’t approach her. She walked along the fence for about an hour, lying down and getting back up several times. They do that to help get the foal in position. The gate to the paddock was open, and she went in on her own. I came back and shut the gate just to keep her safe from any dangerous critters. She lay down on the straw in the run-in shed and delivered in there.”
Raven looked over at Maggie as the little colt was already nursing. They made eye contact, and Maggie felt as though Raven was relieved that she was finally there.
“This isn’t usual to have a wild horse so tame,” Justin explained to Dave and Katrina. “It’s possible she was someone’s horse and she was dumped.”
“Why would anyone do that?” Katrina asked, fighting emotion.
“It’s not always cruelty; it might be a family who didn’t have the means to care for the horse and had tried and was unsuccessful at rehoming it. There are a lot of families whose land borders the state land who are living hand to mouth. We see them in the clinic all the time; they come in with a beloved pet and have no money to pay for their care. We do it gratis. It’s the least we can do.”
No one replied, the reality of how blessed they were rendering them speechless. What was there to say?
Finally, Maggie spoke up. “When we get the clinic finished, we can have it beno cost.”
“Okay, if that’s what you want. There are enough clients with money to make it possible.”
“You two are amazing,” Dave said. “And that little horse is too much. I want one now.”
“I don’t think you can have a horse in town,” Katrina said, finally composed enough that she could speak without crying.
“You can board it here,” Maggie said. “How long will Raven be locked up in there?”
“I’ll open the gate in the morning, and she can leave,” Justin answered.
“What a night,” Katrina said. “I’m emotionally exhausted.”
“Let’s go,” Dave said, steering her toward the truck. “I’m ready for a beer. When’s Lent over?”
“Another week,” Justin said, laughing.
They said goodbye, and Justin hopped in the back of Dave’s truck for a ride to the gate, while Maggie walked from the cottage. She met him halfway back. They held each other for a while, the experiences they’d had that night mingling, moving back and forth between them. The chirping of crickets and the croaking of frogs crescendoed in the darkness, only a sliver of a moon over the bay reflecting a slight light across the water.
“There’s so much to ask, to say, I don’t know where to start,” Maggie said.
“What’s on your mind this second?”
“You’ll laugh at me. I need to get in the shower. That birth experience was so messy I must have something from it on my clothes.”
Justin laughed out loud. “It usually doesn’t spray.”
“Ha! I’m not so sure. But one thing I decided is I’m sure Idon’twant you to see me like that. All the romance, out the window.”
With his arm around her shoulders, they continued on to the cottage, the sound of Dave’s truck receding.
“No way. Watching you have my baby would be the most romance I’ve ever had.”
