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“Here.” Silas shrugged out of his coat and then whipped off his shirt, shoving it into her hands. “I’ll go get your bag.” He lurched to his feet and disappeared into the trees.
Anger welled up as Tess mopped the blood from the animal’s coat. She should’ve stayed and confronted the shooter—or shooters—earlier. She should’ve made sure they wouldn’t get away with this. “You’re going to be okay,” she murmured. “We’re going to make sure you’re okay.” She carefully moved Silas’s shirt, checking for the source of the blood.
The horse still grunted and snorted but her hooves had settled.
Tess examined the throat and chest; no gunshot wound there. She moved to clean off the muzzle, but the horse jerked her head.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” She’d been hit somewhere on the face. “I need to take a look. I need to see.” She managed to get in a few gentle swipes of the shirt while the poor animal tried to avoid her contact. “I know, sweetie. I know it hurts.” Carefully, she sponged off the horse’s nose and found a gunshot wound a few inches from the nostrils. Looked to be small caliber judging from the size. Tess rose to her knees, searching around the horse’s ears. Yes, there was a clean exit wound about five inches below the left ear.
“Here’s the bag.” Silas sprinted into the clearing, sweat glistening on his muscled chest.
“I found the wound.” Tess showed him where the bullet had gone in. “Looks like it narrowly missed her brain. But her sinus cavity has to be fractured. And she probably has a concussion too.” She rifled through her supplies.
“Why would anyone shoot a helpless animal?” Silas petted the horse’s mane. “I mean, I know some people around here think they eat up all the grasses, but still…”
“It’s complicated.” Tess found her med kit. “The wild herds are overpopulated. They don’t have any predators, they live longer than most wild animals, and they each have to eat up to twenty to thirty pounds of plants a day to survive.” Those were the arguments she’d heard some of the local ranchers make anyway. “None of that justifies trying to take them out though.” She withdrew a syringe of flunixin. “I have to give her a shot for the pain and swelling.”
Silas nodded, leaning his body over the horse to help hold her down.
“This is gonna make you feel better,” Tess murmured, administering the drug as quickly as she could.
The horse strained against Silas, but he carefully held her in place, shushing and soothing her. When the horse calmed, he sat back. “What else can I do to help?”
“We need to clean the wounds and get them bandaged as best we can.” She withdrew a bottle of antiseptic and gauze from her bag. “And then we’ll try to get her up, see if we can get her to walk.” She always kept an extra halter and lead rope in her supplies. “Here.” She handed the bottle of antiseptic to Silas. “You can squirt to irrigate the wounds and I’ll wipe away dirt and debris.”
They worked together to clean up the damage the gunshot had left.
“I’m surprised she’s not putting up more of a fight.” Silas leaned over the horse while he worked, his movements and manner careful.
“I suspect the pain med is starting to kick in.” Tess blotted more dried blood from the horse’s nose. “That and a concussion would make her a little more subdued.”
“She’s beautiful.” He set down the antiseptic bottle and ran his hand tenderly down her flank. “Aren’t you? You’re beautiful.”
“They’re all beautiful.” Tears clouded her vision but she smiled. “We used to see them up here sometimes, Jace and I. He loved the wild horses ever since he was a little kid. His grandpa used to feed them in the winters.”
“Then I’m glad we could help her.” Silas picked up the bottle again and irrigated the wound below her ear. He always withdrew when any conversation turned to Jace. They all did—Thatch and Aiden too. Though her brother had made more of an effort after he’d met Kyra.
Tess couldn’t imagine what it had been like for them to watch their best friend die. At least she’d been spared the trauma of seeing Jace get shot. At least her last memories of him were full of love and hugs and kisses. Tess wanted to press on, to talk more about Jace, to see Silas’s smile lines erase the guilt that etched his forehead whenever Jace was mentioned.
But too much had happened between her and Silas. So she changed the subject. “There’s no way to bandage her nose.” The wound was in an awkward spot and a bandage could interfere with the horse eating or drinking. “So she’ll need to be monitored for infection. I’ll have to clean the wound regularly.”
“How’re we gonna get her back to the ranch?” Silas stood and surveyed the area with clear concern.
“We can’t get the trailer all the way up here.” The terrain was too rugged.
“If she can walk, I’ll lead her back to the ranch,” he offered, standing up to pull on his coat.
Tess stood too. “It’s well over six miles.” That’d be a long trek. “It’ll probably take you a few hours.”
“That’s all right.” He hoisted her emergency backpack onto his shoulders. “Then you can drive down and get a pen ready for her. There’s no other way to get her someplace safe. And we can’t leave her out here in this condition.”
“If you’re sure.” Tess slowly slipped the halter onto the horse and attached a lead rope.
“Should we look for the bullet?” Silas scanned the ground around them.
“I don’t think we’ll find anything. The adrenaline likely kept her on the run for a while.” And if she was going to walk, they needed to get going now, before the meds wore off. “Let’s try to get her up.”
Tess took ahold of the lead rope and instructed Silas to get on the opposite side of the horse. “Now just lightly nudge her a bit,” she said, tugging.
