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"I’ll drive you," the vet says again, and I don’t know if that et me home in time, or he doesn’t think it ht

6

Foal

At the bottom of a hill a few ht turn at the small yellow train depot, cross the tracks, and follow a strea red paint Inside I can hear a mare whinny and snort, whinny and snort The vet winces It’s the sanant woman’s home and hear her scream

Mr Hester juand the birth box, will you?" he yells back "In the trunk" As the able assistant, I find the black leather satchel he stowed in the backseat and the wooden box with a hinged lid in the trunk, then trip along after hiray mare lies in the straw, her eyes ith terror, and I instantly want to coht

Hester shakes hands with a farh he’s been on an all-night bender, then kneels at the horse’s side and says so to the animal that I can’t hear The farmer hands me a bucket of warm soapy water and a clean white feed sack "You the new helper?" he asks "Ain’t seen a wo the vessel, re that I’m dressed for the part inthe vet assistant I better act like one, so I find a place out of the way, set the bucket down, and open the birth box to see what’s in it Behindout of her birth canal, a leghas she been this way?" Hester asks

"Four hours She won’t settle It’s her first I tried to help her, but she kicked me away" He holds out his are purple bruise

Hester hangs up his coat and takes off his upper clothing down to his wool undervest, thenover the bucket "You better scrub too There’s supposed to be two feet" That’s all he says, as if I knohat this hly, he slathers his arain and waits I set the bucket down, take offlike he did, and wonder what I’ve gottenand straining, but nothing’s co," the vet explains "Let et her to stand Then I want you to pull down on the li while I reach in" I nod and do what he tells me For ten minutes he fools around while the mare strains, and I see that with each contraction his brow beads with sweat as if he’s in pain Sometimes a muscle in his face twitches, but other than that there’s no way to tell Finally he withdraws "I can’t get it Will you try? Your arers, which would play an octave and a half on the piano: big, powerfularound in an aniina, not even a horse’s

"What should I do?" I whisper We both face away from the farmer, who stands respectfully back by the barn doors "Go in like I did and see if you can find the other hoof I can just touch it If you can get in a little farther, you should be able to hook your fingers around and bring it down"

I soap up again, this ti as he says Between contractions I wait and it does hurt a little, but not badly There’s no point trying to go farther while the mare bears down I’m surprised when I find the second foot where he says and s his instructions, I carefullyout Hester takes the hands and pulls, while thenow She’s all business, feeling her efforts acco I’ve seen this before with my own patients A mother who appears exhausted froth when a malpresentation is resolved

I stand next to the vet, s e it Suddenly, without warning, the whole lasses fall off, and I collapse into the straw The mare lies down too, her hard labor over, and looks behind her at the baby horse in , who lifts his head with the ain to peel the membrane off the little face, then look up at Mr Hester for approval He nods okay and hands me a towel to ith The colt opens his eyes and I blow on hiht away The breath of life, I call it, and the little horse gasps from the cold air the same as a newborn hu up and is inspecting the farmer’s arm "It’s a nasty one," he says of the bruise I feel around in the hay for my specs, squirive the little one and his et to know each other How like a hu with love, sniffing it, licking it

"Nice colt," I say to theto be done about my wet trousers

"It’s a filly," the vet corrects I snap o out to the car

Milk Stone

Twenty e that crosses the wide and rocky Hope River, I’ the filly a colt but also elated fro new life It doesn’t matter if it’s a horse or a hu If I believed, I’d call it God’sborn before, except a human Are they always that way? Or was that an especially hard delivery?"

"No, it wasn’t especially hard I’ve never seen a hues the subject "Every now and then I need an assistant for the hard deliveries I’m the only vet in the county now, and my practice is new Soo back in the house Mr Hicks was okay, not as nervous as some