“Shit, I totally forgot. Thanks.”
“No problem. Remember to use your radio if needed.”
I nodded and clicked my tongue. Jaina began to walk, and her familiar gait made me a bit choked up.
As I’d known, the fence was pretty much in a pristine connection. I could only find one spot that needed a bit of fiddling, but that was done easily enough.
I could see the herd in the distance. There weren’t that many of them, and the variety was kind of hilarious.They were all near a little hill, and something about that caught my eye. I climbed back in the saddle and nudged Jaina toward the cows.
I didn’t even need to go up to them when I saw that there was an issue.
Unclipping my radio, I tried to assess the situation. “Malachi to whoever’s listening.”
“Base for Mal, over.” Mike’s voice.
“CH here, what’s going on, Mal?” Crew.
“I’m… shit. In the back paddock. Where there’s the little hill and some rocks?”
“I know the place,” Crew replied.
“The herd is here and the Holstein is stuck lying down. I don’t have rope with me, and I don’t think she likes me near.”
“That’s Queenie. She doesn’t like strangers. I’ll be right there,” Crew replied.
“Okay. Mal out.”
All I could really do was wait, so I stayed on Jaina and moved us away just enough for the cow to relax. Her friends seemed more at ease immediately.
The Highlander looked at me cautiously. Or I think she did. She had too much forelock for me to be sure.
I took the time to assess every cow as I sipped my water, hoping that we weren’t too late.
If a cow got stuck on its side like this, they could fuck up their insides and the muscles on their legs. I could hear her breathing being labored, and that didn’t mean good things.
I took my radio out.
“Mal to Base, over.”
“Base here. How’s she looking?” I could hear the worry in Jenn’s tone.
“Not great. Will know once Crew gets here. There’s a cut on the Hereford’s foreleg that’s a bit close to the knee. Looks swollen.”
“I’ll let our vet know and get him to come in for both of them.”
“Okay. Mal out.”
After maybe ten more agonizing minutes, Jaina looked up from her grazing and soon after I spotted the dust billowing around Crew and Shooter.
I got off the saddle but didn’t approach the cows. Jaina wasn’t interested in the proceedings, so she turned slightly to graze in a better spot.
As soon as Crew got there, he was off the saddle and grabbing a rope.
“Well, shit. That’s not good,” he grunted at the sight.
“Nope.”
“Let me see if I can get her to calm down and roped. Then we can pull her over.” He didn’t like that idea any more than I did—so much could go wrong on top of what was already going to be messy.
