‘So are you going to run a mile from me?’ Gil’s phone was ringing, and the seconds lengthened as they stared across the room. Her reply was more of a promise as she slowly shook her head.
Pippa spent the afternoon online in the practice, searching out local history before taking Maud for a short walk. Back in the house, she heard the Land Rover pulling into the yard at the same moment the puppy leapt excitedly from her bed, wagging her tail with glee when the door opened and Lola ran in, followed shortly by Gil.
‘Hi.’
‘Hi,’ she replied, smiling at him unable to take another step without greeting Maud. He crouched down, gently preventing her from clambering onto his lap. ‘How was your day?’ She’d be offering to make him a gin and tonic next and fetching slippers, not that he had any. Way to go, Pippa, she told herself crossly. She’d wondered about waiting for him in the hot tub and had changed her mind about six times.
‘Yeah, fine. Yours?’ Gil was slowly walking towards her. She’d been imagining this moment all day and now it was here her confidence was threatening to do a runner.
‘Good.’ Desire was a swift kick in her stomach as she remembered his hands on her face this morning, the exact moment she’d known he was going to kiss her before Dorothy had barged in. She couldn’t forget the press of his body in the field after chasing Posy; the way he’d murmured her name.
‘I’m really sorry, but I’ve got to go to a call.’ He took her hand and her expectation dissolved in a rush of disappointment. His gaze flickered over the wonky table set for two, the curry she’d been cooking on the range. ‘It’s a calving and I could be a while. Picked it up on the way back.’
‘That’s okay. I understand.’ She held onto her frustration, knowing it wasn’t his fault.
‘Come with me,’ he said quickly, fingers tightening on hers. ‘Why not? The dogs can wait in the car, and we can spend a bit more time together.’
‘Are you sure? I’d need to get changed but I don’t want to hold you up.’
‘Five minutes long enough?’
They were in the Land Rover and speeding out into the night shortly after, the dogs in the back excited to be going on this extra adventure. Gil quickly ran her through all he knew from the brief call.
‘It’s a heifer, first time calving. The farmer’s a longstanding client and it’s his son who runs things now, but he’s had to go out. The heifer wasn’t due for a few days so there was no reason to be concerned until she went into labour earlier and it stopped progressing.’
They parked in a farmyard high on the fell thirty-five minutes later and up here Pippa needed her coat in the cool evening air, realising she’d forgotten her wellies in the rush. Gil pulled on boots tucked into waterproof trousers and a matching top. He collected a box from the boot, and she was beside him as they strode into a byre. She’d seen him in professional mode before but this time there was an urgency amongst his usual calm around patients.
‘Hey Jim, how’s she doing?’
‘Now then, Gil, I’m glad you’re ’ere.’ A tiny, elderly man with the largest hands she’d ever seen on such a frame was leaning against the metal bars of a large pen. Inside, a cow was standing knee deep in thick straw, birth fluids trailing from beneath her tail. ‘I’ve ’ad a feel an’ it’s a big ’un. I’ll never be able to pull it out on me own, needs a fella like you.’ He nodded a hello at Pippa, and she smiled as Gil opened the gate and approached the cow, who to her looked enormous. ‘You a vet too?’ Jim asked, propping a foot in dark boots on the lowest bar.
‘Me?’ She laughed nervously. ‘Sorry no, I’m just here to…’ What, she wondered? She’d be no use here and the best thing she could do would be to stay out of everyone’s way.
‘Righto. Still, you’re another pair of ’ands.’ Jim followed Gil into the pen and clanged the gate shut. ‘I’ll tie ’er up for you, Gil, she’s quiet enough but it’ll ’elp if she gets any ideas like.’ He slipped a rope halter onto the heifer and wound it firmly around a thick metal bar. He was so small, she wondered he could see over the cow, never mind try and hold it steady.
She stared, fascinated, as the farmer held the tail out of the way and Gil rolled up his sleeve almost to his shoulder, carefully inserting his arm into the cow.
He frowned. ‘Yeah, it is a big calf and it’s not going to come out this way.’ He leaned into the cow as he continued the examination, and she mooed crossly and tried to shake her tail. Pippa couldn’t blame her, she didn’t imagine it was an enjoyable experience. ‘She’s pretty narrow and the cervix is tight. If we leave it much longer, we’ll be putting them both at risk as she’s not progressing. I think the calf might still be alive.’
‘Side door, then, is it?’ Jim scratched his head thoughtfully. ‘Thought it might be.’
‘I’m afraid so.’ Gil removed his arm, wiping it down as he looked at Pippa. ‘Can you help me bring some stuff from the car? A byre’s never ideal for surgery but it needs to be as sterile as I can make it.’
‘Of course.’ She helped carry in an array of clean equipment and he covered a bale of straw with a plastic sheet and laid everything out. He sterilized his arm very thoroughly with the help of the bucket of hot water Jim had fetched, and then clipped a patch of hair from the heifer’s back, injecting her first with local anaesthetic so she wouldn’t feel the nerve block going in. Then he clipped another wide, long space on her flank and thoroughly disinfected it before injecting her again, reassuring Jim that she’d be comfortable and pain free.
The cow was still tied up and Pippa could see a dark foot poking beneath her tail as she contracted, still trying and unable to push the calf out naturally. Gil made a neat incision in her flank with a scalpel, and she was transfixed as he continued. Then his arm was inside, feeling for the calf.
‘Got a back leg,’ he muttered, bending close and sliding both arms in. It looked incredibly invasive, but the cow was mostly oblivious and clearly not in pain as he felt his way around. ‘And another.’
He started to pull, manoeuvring both legs and hauling the calf out backwards whilst Jim hovered anxiously. Pippa didn’t realise she was clutching her hands together in hope that the calf was still alive until it slipped free and crashed steaming and soaking to the straw. Jim bent down awkwardly, trying to clean the fluids from its nose and mouth.
‘Is it breathing?’ Gil was still working on the cow, and he looked at the calf.
‘Not yet, lad. Not goin’ far as I can tell.’
‘Pippa, quick.’ Gil threw her a glance. ‘Help Jim clear those fluids and stick a piece of straw up its nose, see if you can make it sneeze.’
She didn’t need asking twice, surprised by the rush of emotion at witnessing the miracle of birth. She slipped through the gate and was on her knees to stick a piece of straw up the calf’s nostrils as Jim rubbed its body, praying this beautiful new baby would make it. The calf spluttered, once, twice, and shook its head, ears flapping. Her hand went to its chest, and she felt the heartbeat against her fingers.
