Michelle gasped, both hands flying up to cover her mouth. “Poor thing.”
He agreed. The mare made it into the stall and stood there trembling.
“Vet’s on his way. Sent him pictures and told him what happened.” Mom met them at the stall door.
“I need warm water and bandages.” Chase pushed his body into motion. No time for fear or panic. Time to fix the problem to the best of his ability. He’d step aside when the vet arrived.
“There’s some blue lotion in the tack room.” Michelle took a step back. “I’ll get it.”
She remembered what they used for wound care while they waited on the vet.
No time to process the information. He moved on to more important tasks. “Good. Thanks.” He scrubbed his hands clean in the double farmhouse sink he’d installed in the back of the barn years ago. Better to have hot water and a place to scrub up here than to need to go all the way to the house and come back.
Adrenaline stuffed his emotions down out of the way and cleared his mind for the task at hand. Clean the wounds. Check the mare for any other injuries. Wait for the vet.
Chuck and the other cowboys shuffled around in the hallway for a few minutes before heading back out to finish their jobs.
Chase appreciated the rush of quiet, though his mind was anything but as it filled him with information on how to deal with the mare’s injuries.
“Here.” Michelle set the bucket of warm water near his leg and stroked the mare’s heaving side. “Poor girl. It’s okay. We’re going to take care of you.”
We? No time for that either. He worked his way down from the cut on the mare’s shoulder to the gash across her fetlock that kept her from putting pressure on her hoof. Nothing about the injuries seemed dangerous, but he’d wait for the vet’s final verdict.
Michelle continued making soft crooning noises as she comforted the mare.
He waited about wrapping the wounds, wanting to give the vet a chance to look them over.
Footsteps pounded down the barn aisle, Chelsey’s voice rising above the fall of boot heels. “Which stall?”
“Here.” Michelle stuck her hand out over the half door and followed it with her head and torso. “Chelsey.” She breathed the woman’s name with a shock of surprise.
“Michelle?” Chelsey tore into the stall and wrapped Michelle in a swift hug. “It’s so good to see you. We’ll catch up as soon as I’m finished.”
Chase straightened from his stooped position on the hay. He barely remembered falling to his knees to care for the wounds, but as the adrenaline drained, his body reminded him of the time he’d spent crouched in the same spot.
“What happened?” Chelsey examined the mare from nose to tail as he talked.
He gave her the story as he’d been told, pointed out the cuts and scrapes and how he’d treated them. By the time he finished, his throat burned, and the lotion had dried beneath his nails, turning them cobalt.
Michelle handed him a bottle of water and tucked herself into the corner of the stall.
He thanked her with a nod and drained the bottle. “You remember Chelsey?”
“Yeah.” A wrinkle formed in her forehead. “Been getting a lot of memories back lately. Chelsey’s came when I saw her in the hallway.”
They’d all been friends growing up. Chelsey was the first of them to leave. Being a couple years older and the first of their group to graduate, she’d taken off for veterinary college and only recently returned.
Chelsey listened to the mare’s heart and lungs, checked her eyes, and ran her hands down all four limbs. “Can you get her to lay down? I’d like to check her hooves without making her put weight on that one.” She pointed out the injured hoof.
“Maybe.” He moved to the mare’s injured shoulder and tapped the space where the shoulder met her barrel. “I won’t force her to go down.”
“And I’d never ask you to.” Chelsey moved to the mare’s head, and Michelle scooted to the other side.
They surrounded the mare, and she went down on her front legs, then dropped all the way onto her side with a heaving groan.
“She might not stay down long.” He warned them though they knew that horses disliked laying for extended periods of time. It could be dangerous for them, though they did occasionally enjoy a nap while stretched out on the ground.
“Almost done.” Chelsey made her way from the front hooves to the back, then around to the mare’s head.
