I freeze.
“What is it?” Finn asks.
“His leg. He reacted when I touched it.”
I examine it more closely.
The left hind leg is slightly swollen. Ragnar is holding it at an odd angle.
“This isn’t poisoning,” I say slowly. “It’s his leg.”
“How can you tell? He’s barely moving.”
“Look at the way he’s positioning it.”
I carefully take hold of the leg.
Ragnar growls.
“It’s okay,” Finn murmurs, keeping him steady. “Let her help.”
I examine the hoof carefully.
And the second I tilt it slightly, I see the problem.
“Shit.”
“What?”
“There’s a rock embedded deep in his hoof. And it’s starting to get infected.”
Finn leans closer to look.
“He’s been walking on that for days. How the hell was he even standing?”
“I have no idea. But apparently he had something important to do.”
I look at Ragnar.
The sheep stares back at me with unsettling intensity.
Like he’s begging me to understand something.
Like there’s some enormous secret hidden behind those stubborn, grumpy sheep eyes.
What exactly are you up to, mysterious sheep?
“I’m going to have to remove the stone,” I explain. “It’s going to hurt. Normally I’d restrain him in a trimming stand, but we don’t have time to move him somewhere else, and I seriously doubt he’d let himself get strapped onto the exam table. I need you to hold him firmly.”
Finn nods and adjusts his grip on Ragnar.
“I’m ready.”
I grab my finest forceps and get to work.
The stone is lodged deep. Blood seeps around the hoof.
Ragnar flinches.
