Page 6

J enny rolled over and picked up her phone. “This is Dr. Newman.”

“Hello, Doc, this is Gary from M & M ranch. I’m sorry to bother you, but we have a situation here.”

“It’s no problem, Gary, but does Mac know you’re calling me?”

“No, ma'am. He’s out of town, and since I’m the manager, I’m making a decision. One of the mares is having a problem birthing. I think it’s a breech.”

“I’m on my way.”

“Good. Thank you.”

Jenny rolled out of bed, threw on the first clothes she found, and rushed out the door. She drove as fast as she could, knowing every second counted. She screeched to a halt outside the barn, where a man stood waving his arms.

“What do you know?” she asked the moment she grabbed her bag and raced after the man.

“Gary will tell you, ma'am.”

Jenny got to a large stall and saw the mare was in apparent distress.

“How long has she been in labor, how old, and is this her first birthing?” Jenny asked as she started to examine the mare. She could tell she’d been in labor longer than she should have been, which usually meant breech.

“Close to two hours. She’s six, and it’s her fourth birth,” Gary said worriedly.

Jenny’s stomach twisted. “Has she had any problems with the others?”

“No, ma'am.”

Jenny pulled on a long glove, lifted the horse's tail, and shoved her arm into the horse. Right away, she could feel the hind legs.

“She’s a breech,” Jenny grunted.

“Dammit. Sorry, ma’am.”

Jenny ignored him. Her concentration was all on the horse. She could tell the foal was in distress. “I’d try to turn the foal, but we need to get it out now, or we might lose both.”

“Tell me what you want me to do?”

Jenny crouched and grabbed some chains and then shoved both arms into the horse. That was one good thing about being small. Both of her arms could easily fit in the backside of a cow or horse.

“I’m going to tie both hind legs together, and then we’ll pull. Have a bucket of cold water on hand.”

She vaguely heard one of the ranch hands race away.

Within a few minutes, she had the foal where she wanted it. She pulled the ends of the chain out. “You grab onto this handle, and I’ll get the other. When I tell you to pull, pull hard but don’t jerk.”

“You got it.”

Jenny counted in her head, and when the horse started to have a contraction, she yelled. “Pull.”

She and Gary did this four times, and finally, they were making progress.

“This should do it. One more pull.”

The only sounds she heard were Gary and herself grunting in exertion and the horse whinny as the painful contraction hit her.

Jenny felt the foal slide out and drop to the hay-covered ground. She could tell the foal wasn’t breathing and would die if she didn’t do something instantly. She bent and started pulling the membrane away from its head and the mucus out of the horse's nose.

“Hand me the water.”

Gary handed it to her.

She dumped it on the foal's head, making the baby jolt, gasp, and then start to breathe. She patted the foal’s sides as it gasped for breath.

“Well, I’ll be,” Gary said.

Jenny stood and pulled the foal off to the side and stuck her arm back in the horse.

“What are you doing now?”

“I want to make sure there was no internal damage done to the mare, and she needs to expel the placenta. There’s still a chance we could lose her.”

The crowd that had gathered waited with bated breath.

She felt the placenta start to slide out and stepped back. It plopped onto the ground, spraying mucus and blood all over her, which she overlooked.

She stuck her arm back in and felt around. She exhaled. “I think she’s good. Let’s take care of the foal.” She pulled the chains off the legs and examined him. “He looks to be in good shape. Congratulations, Papa, you have a colt.”

Gary grinned and then laughed.

Jenny maneuvered the mare around and made sure she was taking to her foal. She stood back and let nature take its course.

When the mare started cleaning her foal, a low cheer went up as the ranch hands celebrated a new life on the ranch.

Gary’s hand shot out, and they both laughed when she showed him the long glove she still had on. She pulled it off and shook the man’s hand.

“I’m impressed, Doc. You just saved one of our favorite prized mares and her beautiful colt that the boss will be able to sell for a hefty amount later.”

“It was my pleasure.” She started putting her things away. “Is there a hose I can use?”

“Sure thing.”

She followed Gary with her bag to an outside spigot. She washed her hands and the chains she’d used and then pulled off the paper overalls she put on before leaving the house to protect her clothes.

“Call me if you’re concerned about anything. You might ask Mac before you do. I know this was an emergency, and I was the closest...”

“I didn’t call you because of that,” Gary said. “I can tell you know your stuff, and I like that you’re bringing in new techniques and tools. You did an awesome job, ma'am, and I’ll tell Mac that, too.”

“Please call me Jenny.” And then she thought of something. “Is there a possibility you could get fired for bringing me in?”

Gary laughed. “No. I’ve been here since Kaden was Baby Mac. That’s what we called him since he was born until he got bigger than us. He doesn’t trust very many people, but I am one of the few he does.”

“All right. Good. Have a good day.”

“You, too.”