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“That’s probably why there’s nothing about him skipping out on his parole, either. He might be some kind of informant—”
“So, he can just come to Montana—”
“Maybe, but there are still conditions in place. That’s what I’m trying to find out. I should know soon; I have some friends in the FBI.”
“Of course, you do,” I breathed, more to myself than to him. “Let me know if you find anything old, and keep an eye on the kid today, especially. He likes to roam. I’ll be out in the pasture if you need me.”
I hurried out of the kitchen, sipping my scalding hot coffee as I jogged down the steps. George was waiting for me by the main gate of the pasture, his truck loaded with supplies to mend the fence.
“I already got some guys out there moving the herd away so they don’t bother us,” he said as we got into his truck. “The babies this year are curious about everything we’ve been doing around the ranch lately, following us around—”
“We might need to build a new barn before the snow starts to fly at this rate,” I said, running my fingers through my hair as I tried to clear my mind of the Kirk situation and focus on the task at hand. “How many calves do we have now?”
“Fourteen with ten on the way within the next few weeks,” George said before sucking his lip between his teeth and shaking his head.
“This was more than we bargained for.”
“You think?” George said, and then he laughed, a real, rare laugh.
We reached the area where the fence used to be, now just a tangle of wire and metal posts. I sighed heavily as I pulled a few toolboxes out of the bed of George’s truck and looked out over the pasture. The fog was still hovering over the grass, and the sun was just beginning to peek through the mist pooling through the sparse trees in the distance. It would have been a beautiful morning to sit out on the porch and drink coffee with Moira, but that would have to wait.
I hollered in surprise as something thumped my thigh and looked down at the little brown calf whose head was poking out from between my legs.
He was… brand new, still damp, and trying to nurse.
“Oh, shit,” I said, then shouted for George. “Where’s the mom?”
A commotion broke out where the other farmhands were working further up the fence line. A large, brown form thundered out of the mist as the cow in question came barreling over, looking for her baby.
“Get out of her way!” I shouted as the men jumped and tumbled out of her line of sight. I moved away from the calf, George and I climbing into the bed of his truck as the mom charged at us, then gathered her calf.
“This is going to be a long day,” George sighed, giving me a knowing look as we waited for them to move on.
A mama cow was the angriest thing on earth if she felt like her baby was threatened in any way, especially by people she didn’t know. She was obviously one of the new heifers.
“I’ll call the vet. If she dropped a baby, and two were born yesterday—”
“I bet they all start dropping today,” George said, finishing my thought.
* * *
Cassidy Raney, Hot Springs’ large animal vet, spoke in a murmur into the phone as I paced along the stalls in the large barn near the edge of the property where we kept some of the cattle who were sick, or recovering with their calves during the calving season.
“How many today alone?” he asked.
“Four, but we have a heifer in labor right now, which is why I’m calling.” I sighed, watching as George rubbed the cow’s neck as she paced back and forth around her large stall. “She’s struggling.”
“You got a come-along?” Cassidy asked, his voice low and gravelly like I’d woken him up.
“Yeah,” I said, biting down on the words. I really didn’t like using the device, not one bit, but we’d gotten lucky this season and had only had to use it once so far.
But this birth was already looking more complicated.
“I felt two, Cassidy,” I said after a moment.
“Shit. Okay.” Cassidy groaned, and it sounded like he was rolling out of bed and he grunted into the phone. “I’m on my way. I’m about two hours south of you right now, so give me some time if you can. Keep her comfortable and hydrated.”
No easy feat, but it was all we could do at the moment.
