AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 10
Mabel finished tackingthe stomach into place, snapped her suture, and then worked on clamping the cow’s hide together so she could stitch up the hole from the twisted stomach surgery.
Beef cows didn’t twist often, but it wasn’t uncommon for dairy cows, especially those that didn’t get enough roughage in their diet.
Before she did surgery, since it was so hard for cows to come up to a good milk production afterward, she always tried to roll them first.
She’d already been out to Raymond Sparrow’s farm and rolled the cow.
The bad part about rolling was that it didn’t always work. And a vet really couldn’t know for sure if it had, or the stomach could twist again, since there was no way to tack the stomach down, since there was no incision.
Regardless of what happened, since this was the second twist visit for this cow, Mabel was doing the actual surgery.
Lark had been on a call already, and she’d called Mabel just to see if she would be available to go out.
Mabel had wanted to stay and talk to James. She...couldn’t believe she was engaged. But she didn’t want Lark to be out until all hours of the night. She already did more than what she should.
Then, Lark had gotten done with her call and stopped in to see if Mabel needed a hand.
Raymond was one of two dairy farmers in the area. The other dairy farmer never called them. Mabel wasn’t sure what vet he used, but it wasn’t Lark.
Once she had asked Lark about it, since she found it odd, since for him to use a different vet would mean the vet would need to come from much further away, since she and Lark were the only vets in the area.
Lark, who typically answered questions with a smile and laugh and as much information as Mabel wanted to hear, had shrugged off the question and changed the subject. It was so unlike Lark that Mabel hadn’t gotten up the nerve to ask again.
Whatever the issue was between Lark and that farmer, it was more than what Mabel wanted to know, if it made Lark so unhappy.
Mr. Sparrow came by, giving the cow a little more grain.
Surgery for twisted stomachs didn’t require complete sedation of the cow, just a general numbing of the area where she would make the incisions. The cow was standing up, held by a stanchion and waiting. She appreciated Mr. Sparrow keeping her calm and fed. Although, she wanted to remind him that his cows needed roughage and they wouldn’t twist as easily.
Lark and she had both told Mr. Sparrow that more than once, but he was stuck on his percentages of protein, and cost per pound, and had figured out that grain was the most cost-effective way to get the cow into production and producing at the optimum level.
Most likely he was right, but this surgery was going to set his cow back for the entire lactation period.
“Thanks for coming out on such short notice. This is my top producer, and I wanted to get her straightened up.”
“No problem. It’s always nice to come out here,” Mabel said, pulling the suture through the hide.
Lark gave her a hand holding the hide together but still smiled at Mr. Sparrow.
“Your cows are tame, and it’s always a pleasure to work with them,” Lark said.
Mr. Sparrow called a thank you over his shoulder as he walked out of the stable.
It was getting to be rather late in the afternoon and was probably time for him to start the evening milking.
That did not make Mabel hurry. She understood from experience that anything that made her hurry would probably end up also making her make a mistake. She didn’t do her best work while being rushed. She tried to avoid rushing as much as possible.
“I heard from the grandmother of the three girls while I was on call. I didn’t want to tell you in front of Mr. Sparrow, but she said that she was selling her house and just had a buyer put an offer on it yesterday. She’s looking forward to getting a place for the girls immediately, since she’s moving to a retirement community, and they are not allowed there.”
“You’re not gonna believe this, but I’m engaged.”
“I don’t believe it,” Lark said with a laugh.
“It’s true. It’s also true that I shot a man today.”
“What?” Lark said, the shock in her voice declaring plainly that she couldn’t believe it. “Tell me you’re joking.”
