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"Why don’t I hold her and you jab her," Hester said, abruptly handing Dellarobia the blue-handled syringe while she struggled with the thrashing aniripped one of its horns in each hand and used her hip to pin Hanky against the barn wall "Now," she grunted, not a question, and Dellarobiathe point-squeeze motion she’d watched in infinite repetition She felt the needle sink, then stepped back as the big ewe struggled free and leaped away, landing hard but scra the whites
"You didn’t make too bad a job of that," Hester said
Dellarobia replayed the event as if watching it froing as she leaned down to deliver the injection I see how you take to this She did this all the tiined hoould see her while she stood at the stove cooking supper While she read to the kids, putting theood reason, it made these routine parts of her life seem consequential
She asked Hester, "How’d you learn to do all this vet stuff?"
"Well, you know Dr Gates won’t come till death’s at your door, and Dr Worsh won’t coe sixty dollars to step out of the truck I’d say I got tired of paying sixty dollars to hear that I had a dead sheep"
Hankyher options One of which h wall of the stall "There ought to be more vets in this county," Dellarobia said "As much livestock as people have That’s crazy"
"I’d say it is," Hester agreed "Steady work for the asking Worsh and Gates are oldup to take their place"
"Oops" Dellarobia pulled out the grease crayon she’d stuck in her pocket while sorting out the takeaways "We forgot to et and chase down that she-devil twice?"
They finished by ain in their muddy country Dellarobia could see no they asse faed blue scrap ringed with cold white that made her want to bellow her small relief This last week of rain had stacked up more layers of crazy on folks who had lost whole harvests and the better part of theirit on the radio Thisshe’d heard about a man in Henshaalked outside and unloaded his S he’d seen a vision of it drowning in mud The vision was familiar to most by now Dellarobia had never known to be thankful for so si as a dry, white snow
She and Hester passed through the upper pasture gate with its empty donation bucket nailed to the post If soate, it would help Maybe pass out leaflets, like Leighton Akins Dellarobia considered what she would put on her questionnaire: How ’bout this weather? Do you know the difference between correlation and causation? Do you have thoughts of shooting your horse?
"Do you ever find yourself just thinking about the sun?" she asked aloud It was not a Hester kind of question, so she didn’t expect an answer Her reed to help her look for nectar flowers thatthe last week of February Both struck Dellarobia as long shots: winter flowers, and Hester’s cooperation But she’d proh Road, with no idea how to talk to one another After athis way and that
"Yes," she finally answered emphatically
"About the sun?" Dellarobia asked
"Yes," Hester confir downhill away from the traveled road To Dellarobia’s surprise they were on a path, faint and steep and not at all well maintained but definitely a path She’d never noticed it, in all her days up here