New Rider (13 page)

“Hey, C, what’s going on?”

Carole whirled around, startled. Zach Simpson was standing behind her.

“Zach! What are you doing here? He started to answer but she cut him off. “Never mind, I’m just so glad you are I could hug you! We have to help Sunset! She’s having her foal!”

Zach’s eyes grew wide as he took in the situation. “Is that her baby coming out?”

“Yes, but something’s wrong.”

“Shouldn’t she be lying down?”

“Yes and no,” Carole told him impatiently. There was little time for explanations. If she was going to do this, she was going to have to do it soon or it would be too late. “I think one of the baby’s legs is folded under. That means it will never fit through the birth canal.”

Zach looked stricken. “Is it going to die?

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” she told him determinedly.

“Do you want me to run to Pine Hollow and get help?”

Carole shook her head. “There’s not enough time.”

Zach looked as scared as Carole felt. “What can we do?”

“I’m going to try to pull its leg out from under it. But to do that I first have to push it back in.”

Carole wouldn’t have thought it possible but somehow Zach’s eyes got even bigger and rounder. “No way! Are you telling me you’re going to put your hands
inside
her?”

Carole nodded grimly. “At least one and most of my arm. The foal is still getting oxygen from the placenta, so it won’t suffocate,” she explained. “Now, I need you to keep Sunset as still as you can, okay?”

Zach nodded. “I’ll try,” he told her, taking the halter in his hands.

In spite of the mare’s best efforts, the foal was still in the same position it had been a few minutes before.

Carole took a deep breath and, standing directly behind the horse, steeled herself for what she had to do. She waited only long enough for the last contraction to pass before placing her hands on the foal’s foreleg and head. Her heart was beating a mile a minute. She was terrified of doing something wrong and injuring
the little creature, but she knew that if she didn’t try to help there’d be a dreadful price to pay. Slowly she began pushing it back inside its mother.

Sunset snorted and tried to move away but Zach held her firmly in place. Carole could hear him talking soothingly to her.
Good.
She figured the horse had a right to be at least as scared as the humans were.

Although there was resistance at first, once she had managed to push the baby out of the birth canal, it slid backward fairly easily.

“How’s it going?” Zach called to her.

“So far so good,” she told him. “This next part is the tricky bit. I have to find the leg and pull it free. That should put it back in the right position.”

Carole pushed her arm into the birth canal as far as possible, feeling around the foal as best she could. Even though she knew approximately where the leg should be, it was still difficult to find without being able to see.

Agonizing moments passed as she searched. Everything felt slimy and bizarre. Finally she found what she thought was a knee. She struggled to get a firm grip on it but it was just out of reach of her hand.

Carole started to panic. She could barely reach the foal’s knee, let alone get to its foot. If she didn’t use her
hand to cover the hoof, the baby could tear the uterine wall and that could kill Sunset!

Carole tried again. Her arm simply wasn’t long enough! “Zach, I can’t do it!” she cried.

“What are we going to do?” he asked anxiously.

Carole removed her wet arm as Sunset began to struggle.

“I think she wants to lie down again,” Zach said.

Carole thought quickly. “Let her.”

Zach did as he was told and the mare lowered herself back to the ground, grunting and groaning.

This was terrible. Carole’s mind raced. She doubted the mare’s lying down had made much difference in the position of the baby. Then it hit her. Zach was taller than she was and his arm was a couple of inches longer. Maybe he could do it.

“Zach, listen to me, you’re going to have to try.”

Zach looked incredulous. “Me? Are you crazy?” He shook his head. “I don’t know anything about the insides of a horse. I barely know about the outsides.”

“If you don’t try they’re going to die, both of them!” she told him urgently.

Sunset groaned in agony. The strain on her was tremendous. That seemed to make up Zach’s mind.

“Okay, C,” he said grimly. “You’ll have to talk me through it.”

Carole moved quickly. They were running out of time. “The baby has to have both front legs extended in front of it, like a diver. Right now one of them is bent under at the knee. You need to pull it straight.”

Zach traded positions with her. “How do I do that? Just grab and pull?”

Carole placed a hand on the horse’s head to comfort her. “Use your hand to cover the hoof. That will protect Sunset from internal injury. Then pull firmly and steadily.”

Zach nodded and pushed his hand inside the mare. He looked terribly pale. Carole hoped he wasn’t going to faint—she needed him too desperately.

Her position at the mare’s head made it difficult for her to see what was going on. “How’s it going?” she called anxiously.

“I think I’ve found the leg,” he told her. “Just a little more … got it! I’ve got the foot!”

Carole’s heart leaped. If he could only pull it straight, everything might be okay after all. She waited. And waited.

“Yes!” Zach finally cried.

“Yes?” she asked anxiously.

“They’re both straight now.” He stepped back, breathing hard.

Another spasm shook Sunset. Carole and Zach
held their breath, waiting for the outcome, knowing they had done all they possibly could for the poor creature.

Once again they watched as the baby struggled to find its way into the world. This time, however, it was different. Instead of getting stuck halfway, the foal slid smoothly and completely out of its mother.

“Look, it’s a filly!” Carole said excitedly.

“C, why isn’t it moving?” Zach asked.

A wave of fear washed over Carole. Zach was right. The baby wasn’t stirring. She looked closer. There was no sign that it was even breathing. She felt tears coming to her eyes. “Oh, Zach, maybe we were too late,” she whispered.

“C, we’ve got to do something!”

Carole shook her head helplessly. “I don’t know what else to do.”

The little foal showed no signs of life. It lay limply on the hard earth as if the struggle to be born had used up the tiny spark of life that had been in it.

Zach sank to his knees, reaching out and almost touching the unmoving filly. “It’s not fair, he whispered. “She never even had a chance.” A sob escaped him as tears started to flow.

Carole knelt down beside him, her own hot tears running down her cheeks unchecked. Her heart was
breaking. “I’m to blame,” she sobbed. “If I hadn’t forgotten to lock that dumb door, if only I’d studied harder … Judy would have saved her. Oh, Zach, it’s all my fault.” She couldn’t bear to look at the little creature before her. Its lifeless body was a searing accusation.

Zach slipped his hand into hers and she could feel him trembling. They were both too overcome with sorrow to speak.

Sunset looked down at her still baby and gave a little whinny. After sniffing it curiously for a moment, she nudged it with her nose and then began to lick it, removing the rest of the birth sac.

Suddenly the lifeless foal twitched and began to wiggle.

Carole stared, unable to believe her eyes. “Zach, it’s breathing. It’s alive!” she screamed joyfully.

“All right!” Zach hollered. “Yeehaw!”

The two of them hugged each other and jumped up and down.

The furry little newborn tolerated its mother’s tender ministrations for a few minutes and then tried to get to its feet. The foal’s struggle to stand on its impossibly long, spindly legs left Zach and Carole crying with laughter.

Sunset stood up and the little filly snorted at her
mother as if to say,
It’s about time.
With wobbly little steps it moved over to the mare and began nursing.

Carole and Zach looked at each other. They were grubby, sweaty, covered with slime, and had tear tracks running down their faces—but they were glowing with happiness.

“C, do you remember when Stevie told me I hadn’t lived until I’d washed under a horse’s tail?”

“Sure.”

He slipped an arm around Carole’s shoulders as he watched Sunset and her new baby. “My friend, we sure are living large today.”

A
FTER THE NEWBORN
finished nursing, she seemed overcome by sleepiness and awkwardly lowered herself to the ground for a nap. Sunset hovered over her baby protectively.

“I can’t blame her for being tired,” Carole said to Zach. “I’m a little beat myself.”

“You could use a shower, too,” he told her. “In fact, would you mind moving downwind from me?”

Carole punched him in the arm and laughed. “Have you looked in the mirror lately?”

Zach grinned. “I’ll have to wash my hands before breakfast, that’s for sure.”

That reminded Carole just how early it was. “Hey,
what were you doing out here at this time of the morning, anyway?”

Zach looked sheepish. “I was using the shortcut to get to Pine Hollow. I needed to get my math book, and I figured no one would be around.”

Carole was surprised to notice that they really weren’t very far from Zach’s backyard. She had been so intent on finding Sunset, she hadn’t even realized where she was. “I guess it’s a good thing for Sunset that you left your book there in the first place,” she said solemnly. “You do know you saved their lives, don’t you?”

Zach shook his head. “No way. If you hadn’t been here, I wouldn’t have had a clue about what to do.”

“And I couldn’t have done it by myself.”

“I guess we could split the credit, then.”

Carole grinned. “Not a chance. I’m taking all the glory on this one.”

Zach laughed. “Hey!
Glory
would be a good name for the baby, don’t you think?”

“Perfect,” Carole agreed. “Too bad we don’t get to name her. That’s up to Mr. Wooten.”

Zach shrugged. “Maybe he’ll be open to suggestions. Anyway, it sure has been an exciting start to the day. I never dreamed I’d ever do something like that. The whole thing was awesome.”

“If you enjoyed it so much, maybe you should consider becoming a veterinarian. I am.”

Zach looked dubious. “Would I have to do something like that every day?”

“Maybe.”

“Not a chance!” he told her emphatically. Then his eyes fell on the sleeping filly. “Well … it was pretty amazing.”

“Even the part where you had to stick your hand inside?” Carole reminded him.

Zach nodded. “Yeah, C, even that part.”

The little filly didn’t nap for long, and once she was up on her stiltlike legs again, Carole decided it was time to make them walk back to Pine Hollow.

She led Sunset while Zach trailed behind with Starlight. She told him to keep the horse well back so that there’d be no danger of the foal getting stepped on or the mother being upset by the other animal’s presence.

The return journey was uneventful, for which Carole was profoundly grateful. Since it was now almost eight o’clock in the morning, she knew everyone at Pine Hollow would be awake and no doubt worried about the missing mare.

Sure enough, when they came into view of the stable, Carole spotted Judy Barker’s truck in the driveway.
She led the little group into the yard and was greeted by the veterinarian and an anxious Max.

“What on earth is going on?” Max demanded.

Carole felt herself blush with shame. “Sunset had her baby.”

“So I noticed,” he said, taking the mare’s halter from her. “Is there some reason why she didn’t have it in my stable as planned?” His eyes landed on Zach and Starlight. “And why were you out riding so early this morning?”

“Carole saved the foal’s life,” Zach told them excitedly.

Carole shook her head. “Actually, Zach saved both their lives. I’m the one who put them in danger in the first place.”

Max frowned. “I don’t understand. Judy said you called her from here last night.”

“I did, but after I checked on Sunset, I guess I forgot to latch her stall door,” she confessed. “I remembered it only this morning, so I came over to see if everything was all right, but she was gone. So I took Starlight to find her.”

“First things first, Max,” Judy said. “I need to know about the birth. You and Zach look like you had a rough time.”

Carole smiled ruefully. She had forgotten what a mess they were. “I think Sunset had the worst of it. The foal had one of its legs tucked under, so it couldn’t come out. I pushed it back in and tried to unfold its leg, but my arms weren’t long enough. Luckily Zach has longer arms and he managed to do it.”

Judy smiled broadly. “It sounds like you did everything right, Carole. I’m really proud of you.” She looked over at the boy. “You too. That took a lot of courage, young man. Now with your permission, Max, I think I’d better take a look at mother and daughter.”

Carole watched Judy lead the mare and foal away. She hung her head, unable to meet Max’s eyes. “I’m so sorry, Max. I really blew it.”