Page 229 of The Moon Sister
‘Zara popped down and filled me in. It sounds like you played a blinder. And because o’ you, we’re all saved. The news is going round that the Laird is getting divorced tae boot. Is that true?’
‘I can neither confirm nor deny,’ I replied blithely.
‘Well, it’s about time those two went their separate ways. Now then,’ he said, drawing himself up to his full height and staring down at me, ‘I need tae show you something else that’ll rock your world. Are you up tae it, Tig?’
‘It’s nothing bad, is it?’
‘No, not at all. It’s a blinkin’ miracle! Coming?’
‘Yes, as long as it’s good,’ I said, even though I was now dog-tired from emotional and mental stress.
A few minutes later, we drove down the hill towards the barn where the pregnant heifers were housed.
‘This way.’ Cal indicated another small barn to the left. He took a key from his jacket pocket and unlocked the padlock. ‘Ready?’ he asked me.
‘Ready.’
Cal opened the door and I followed him inside. There was a soft rustling from the corner, and in the light coming from the doorway I saw a skinny female deer lying on a bed of straw. I could tell she was very weak by the way she was desperately trying to stand, but failing.
‘What’s happened to her?’ I whispered.
‘I found her last night in the birch copse, Tig. She was distressed and on her knees, with a swollen belly that told me she was in labour. Me an’ Lochie managed to get her in the back of Beryl and then in here,’ Cal whispered back. ‘The wee one’s nae in good shape either – arrived in the early hours, probably before its due-date, but last time I checked it was still alive. Mum’s struggling now though,’ he sighed.
We looked at her and saw she had sunk back onto the straw, no longer capable of movement.
‘Go and see her baby,’ Cal urged me.
‘Have you called Fiona?’
‘No, you’ll see why in a moment,’ he said, pushing me gently towards the hind.
Whispering words of comfort both out loud and inside my head, I approached her gradually, a few centimetres at a time. I stopped at the edge of the straw bed, then slowly knelt down.
‘Hello,’ I whispered. ‘My name’s Tiggy, and I’m here to help you.’
I sat there, my knees feeling the damp and cold of the barn floor, but never removing my eyes from hers.
Trust me, I am your friend. . . my inner voice told the hind over and over again.
Eventually, it was the hind who dropped her beautiful liquid eyes from mine as her thin body finally relaxed and I edged nearer.
‘Look in the straw beside her,’ Cal whispered from behind me. ‘Here’s a torch.’
He held it out to me and I shone it down into the gloom, making out a skinny pair of legs that were protruding from between its mother’s. I ran the light along its body as it lay prone and ominously still. Then I gave a gasp of astonishment, and, wondering if it was a trick of the light, I swept the torch beam down its body once more.
‘Oh my God!’ I whispered as I turned to look at Cal.
‘I know, Tig. I told you it was a miracle.’
Tears came unbidden to my eyes as I shuffled myself onto the straw. I peered over the hind’s prone body to take a closer look at her calf.
‘It’s white, Cal, pure white! I . . .’
Cal nodded and I could see his eyes were brimming with emotion too. ‘Problem is, Tig, Mum may be done for and the calf’s hardly stirred since he was born. He needs the suckle.’
‘Let me try and get closer,’ I said as I shuffled forward a little further to allow me to place my hand under the hind’s nose, so she could smell me. I stayed there for as long as I could, then lifted my hand and rested it on the back of her neck. At my touch, she looked up at me and I read all the fear and pain she felt. And knew that her time on this earth was running out.
I moved into a more comfortable position to take another look at the calf, lying next to its exhausted mother. I laid my hand against the soft fur of his flank, then began to stroke him gently, my hand moving along his body as I examined him. Carefully picking up one of his back legs to check on the bones, I saw that, even though he was weak, he had no physical impediments.
