When the poor creature’s belly had stilled again, Hailey took a deep breath and placed her phone, flashlight up, on the floor beside her.
“I need to make you more comfy,” she told the animal. “Okay?”
The dog looked up at her with a placid expression.
Holding her breath, Hailey reached out to lift the warm, black head and slide a rag under it to keep the mama’s cheek from the frigid floor. As she did, the golden charm on the dog’s collar caught the dim light from the flashlight.
“Henrietta,” Hailey read. “That’s a nice name.”
She vaguely remembered Ransom and the kids talking about one of the dogs expecting a litter. He didn’t really talk about the dogs with her. She had been thankful not to be reminded of them, but now she found herself wishing she knew more about them—at least about this one, and how she might help the poor creature get through this ordeal.
Henrietta’s tail gave another flop and then she whined as her belly rippled again.
A moment later, a gush of fluid spilled onto the planks, and Henrietta breathed heavily as she expelled a fist-sized water balloon with a tiny black furry something inside.
“Oh, you did it,” Hailey told her proudly. “Look at that.”
Henrietta leaned up and licked at the little bubble full of puppy, but she didn’t break the clear sac that surrounded the pup.
“That’s not good,” Hailey realized out loud. “We have to get her out of there.”
Henrietta kept licking, but the baby remained in her sac.
“Listen,” Hailey said. “I know you don’t want me to touch your baby, but we have to get her out.”
Henrietta paid no mind to Hailey, but rested her head back on the floor as her belly rippled again.
Gingerly, Hailey reached down and stroked one finger against the sac.
Henrietta didn’t react.
Taking a deep breath, Hailey used her fingernails to rip open the sac and release the baby’s face.
Henrietta took an interest again, and when Hailey leaned back, the mama licked off her baby and helped her all the way out.
The pup was unthinkably small—her ears were tiny and her eyes were closed.
But in spite of her puny size, the tiny thing belly-crawled to its mama and began to root around for her first meal.
“Oh, my goodness,” Hailey sighed, overcome by the miracle of this new and tiny life. “What a good mother you are.”
Her hand was stroking the smooth fur on Henrietta’s head before she realized what she was doing.
Then that big belly was rippling again and Hailey prepared herself for the next baby to arrive.
The time passed quicklyand slowly all at once.
After the first birth, Hailey set up the little propane heater. Then she waited, and helped as best she could as Henrietta brought her little family into the world.
Hailey watched the brave mama dog as her three tiny pups nursed.
She had placed the empty feedbag under them, to keep the pups from direct contact with the floor, but the temperature was steadily dropping, and the propane was running out.
“Your babies are so tiny,” she told Henrietta worriedly. “And it’s too cold in here.”
But what was she supposed to do? She couldn’t carry them all, and she certainly couldn’t drive in this weather.
The mama’s belly was blessedly still now, but that didn’t necessarily mean that more pups weren’t on the way.
