“This is Brio, our top stallion. We’ve been preparing him for the World Championship show this summer.”
Sam stepped in and saw the beautiful black stallion leaning close to the back with his head down. His shaky legs struggled to hold him up.
All thoughts of Cheyenne vanished when she entered the stall.
“Steady, boy,” she cooed as she approached the horse. He seemed totally unaware of her presence and did not respond as she softly stroked his neck and flanks.
Cheyenne watched Sam with admiration. He knew she was a good vet and as she examined the horse he saw her training and experience surface. She was in her element and he could tell she had zoned him and their unexpected kiss out of her mind completely.
“How long has he been like this?” She asked Cheyenne briskly while she looked the horse over.
“He was fine last night. He seemed sluggish this morning so I decided not to work him. I thought he might have a little colic from the long work out yesterday. When I checked him a little while ago he couldn’t lift his head and I saw the diarrhea. I knew something was going on besides colic.”
Sam quickly examined the horse. Fear gripped her heart. She knew what was wrong and they didn’t have much time. She took a deep breath and tried to sound calm. “I need to take a blood sample and have a fecal culture done, but I strongly recommend that you get this horse to the CSU Vet Center immediately. I’m almost positive he has Salmonella. We don’t have the facilities to treat him at our office, but CSU does. If it’s Colitis-X, the more serious strain, you don’t have much time. He could deteriorate rapidly. He’ll need intensive treatment with intravenous fluids and around the clock care.”
Cheyenne could hear the fear in her voice and reacted immediately.
“Jose!” he called to one of his workers. “Get the truck and trailer over here and have Suzanne call the CSU Vet Center. We need to get
Brio
there right away.
Vamanos!
”
Sam took a syringe from her bag and drew blood from the horse.
“Any other horses with similar symptoms?” She asked.
“Not that we’ve noticed. We have over 300 head here and I have my men out checking them right now.”
Suddenly Dundee started growling and backed up close to Samantha. Out of the corner of her eye Sam could see a petite woman with gray hair and red glasses dressed in jeans and chaps coming toward them.
Sam wanted to put her head in her hand and moan. Oh, great. What a time for the Wicked Witch of the West to appear.
Cheyenne turned toward Marietta as she approached waving a paper.
“What’s going on here?” she demanded.
“Marietta, this is Samantha Kendrick, Doc Howard’s partner. I called her out to check
Brio
,” answered Cheyenne.
“Where’s Doc? I don’t want his partner. I want Doc. I don’t want a second rate vet here when our champion stallion is at risk.”
Sam could feel the darts of fury from Marietta’s eyes hit her with full force. That was all she needed to stiffen her spine and send the darts right back to her.
“Doc is in Montana and your stallion needs medical attention immediately,” Sam told her coldly. No way in hell was she going to be nice after that second rate vet remark. “I recommend that he be taken to the CSU Vet Center right away. I’m not sure without confirmation from his tests, but I believe he has Salmonella.”
Marietta looked at her with disdain. “Well, I’m sure the CSU Vet Center has more experience than you so we’ll take him immediately. See to it, Cheyenne.”
She turned and started to walk away when she remembered the paper in her hand. “Just what is this all about?” she demanded as she shoved the paper in Cheyenne’s face.
Cheyenne took the paper and Sam stretched her neck out so she could read the writing over his shoulder.
“This is a warning. Do not sell your property to developers or you will regret it. This land should remain open so that the habitat can roam freely as they have for many centuries.”
“Where did you get this?” asked Cheyenne.
“Some idiot put it in my mail box. Whose business is it anyway if we decide to sell off half our property to developers? What do I look like, some tree hugging, environmentalist whacko? To hell with them!”
Marietta stomped off.
Samantha’s mouth was wide open in shock. She closed it with a grunt. “Wow, she’s a real charmer. What’s that all about, Cheyenne?”
“Lance decided to sell off the northern half of his ranch to some developers. They want to build several thousand single-family homes and gave him an offer he couldn’t refuse. In fact, he’s in Denver meeting with them now. He’ll make millions, but some people aren’t happy about it because of the huge growth in this area and the number of homes that have already gobbled up so much ranch land and open space. I hate to see him do it too, but it’s his land and his choice. They’ve already received some phone calls from unhappy commissioners and environmental activists, but this is the first note I’ve seen. She’s lucky they didn’t deliver it with a rock through her window. She’s not a real popular woman around here.”
Sam nodded her head as she watched the retreating figure. “You got that right. She has quite a reputation in Fairview.”
The crew arrived with a truck and trailer and their attention turned to loading the weak stallion.
It sickened Sam to see the beautiful animal struggle on his legs while he was loaded and secured.
“Jose, you ride with him in the back with a walkie-talkie. Alberto will drive with Ramon,” ordered Cheyenne.
Suzanne stuck her head out the barn door. “CSU knows you’re coming and they’re waiting for him.”
“Good. Let’s go guys. I’ll be right behind you.”
Cheyenne’s cell phone rang and he answered sharply, “What?” He stood listening a minute and Sam knew from his grim expression that whatever was being said on the other end was not good. Cheyenne shook his head. “I’ll be right there.”
He hung up and looked at her.
“You better go with me. That was one my guy’s who’s checking our mares in the lower pasture. We’ve got one down with the same symptoms.” He thumped the truck with his hand. “Go ahead and I’ll be along as soon as I can.”
Sam grabbed her stuff and she and Dundee headed for her Chevy. “Let’s take my truck. I may need some things out of it.”
Cheyenne followed Sam to her truck, opened the passenger door and got in. Sam climbed in behind the wheel and when she put her keys in the ignition she heard Dundee’s woeful howl outside.
“Um, you left my partner outside.” She told Cheyenne. “He usually rides shotgun, but if you don’t mind opening your door, he’ll jump in back.”
Cheyenne opened the door and Dundee jumped in.
“Your partner is a dog?” Cheyenne asked with a slight smirk.
“I wouldn’t smirk.” Sam told him calmly. “He’s smart, he’s loyal, and next to Doc he’s the best partner a girl could have.”
Sam turned the truck around. “And he attacks on command.”
With Cheyenne giving her directions, Sam drove toward the lower pasture. The snow had stopped, but it was still cloudy and cold. She parked outside a gate leading to an open field where a tall, lanky cowboy was waiting.
“Right over here, boss,” the cowboy said and led the way toward a bay mare lying on the ground.
Sam’s heart sank. The downed mare appeared to be in shock and looked dehydrated. Her breathing was shallow and labored. It was evident from the ground around her that she had diarrhea and had lost a lot of fluid. Sam grabbed her bag and moved quickly to the horse.
“This is
Brilliante
, one of our best mares,” said Cheyenne. “We usually breed her every year but I decided not to this year so we could show her.”
Sam knelt down and examined the mare that was writhing in pain. Then she looked up at Cheyenne and shook her head.
“She’s dying, Cheyenne. I’m afraid she’s past trying to save and the only thing we can do is euthanize her. ”
“How did she get to this stage without anyone noticing?” Cheyenne was livid and his eyes were two dark pools of anger focused on the cowboy.
“I don’t know, boss. We moved the mares to this pasture yesterday afternoon, and I checked them early this morning. She looked okay then.”
Cheyenne looked down at Sam and nodded. Without waiting any longer, she prepared a syringe and skillfully eased the needle into the horse’s jugular vein. She took out her stethoscope and listened as her heart beat slowed, then stopped. Sam gave the mare a soft pat on her side before she stood up and looked at Cheyenne.
“I’m so sorry, Cheyenne. We had no chance of saving her. I’ll take some cultures and have them tested, but I believe she was infected with Salmonella too. If she was fine this morning, I think she had the Colitis-X strain since that virus can kill a horse in a matter of hours. Let’s hope we caught it in time to save your stallion.”
Sam looked at the other mares in the pasture. “These horses need to be moved out of here right away. Salmonella can be highly contagious”
Cheyenne looked at
Brilliante
and bent down and rubbed her neck.
“She was one of our best. This is a huge loss.”
He stood up, straightened his shoulders then headed toward the gate without looking back.
“Get the rendering service out here, Mitch,” he told the young hand. “And get these mares moved out and tell Matthew to bleach out
Brio’s
stall. If it is Salmonella, I don’t want it spreading to the rest of the herd. I’m on my way to CSU if anyone’s looking for me.”
He climbed into Mitch’s ranch truck and drove away.
Sam began picking up her stuff.
“My name’s Mitch,” the cowboy said introducing himself. Sam rose and shook his hand. Two clear but sad green eyes looked at her under a beat-up cowboy hat.
“Glad to meet you, Mitch. I’m Samantha Kendrick, Doc Howard’s partner. You been working for the Wilson’s very long?”
“Not long. I’m in my last year at Northeastern Colorado School of Agriculture. I graduate in June with my degree in vet science.” he told her.
“Guess you’re getting a good dose of the ugly side of being a vet today.”
“Yeah, this is the hardest part,” he said as he glanced down at
Brilliante
.
Sam packed her gear and then noticed Dundee. He was busy nosing around the pasture.
“Come on, Dun. Let’s go,” She called. She didn’t want him sniffing around, especially if the area could be contaminated with a deadly Salmonella virus, but he had his nose to the ground and ignored her.
“Stop that, and quit digging up this pasture!” Sam yelled as she rushed over to see what had caught his attention. She leaned down and picked up an empty syringe lying in the dirt. She turned and held it up for Mitch to see.
“Do you guys vaccinate your horses in the field?” She asked him. “I thought they always treated the horses in the vet room in the barn.”
“Yes’m, that’s what we usually do, but maybe sometimes they get in a hurry and do some in the field, I don’t know. Here, let me throw that away for you.”
“That’s okay. I’ll dispose of it. Thanks anyway.” Sam carefully tucked the syringe in her pocket and headed for her Chevy. “Do you need a ride back to the barn?”
“No thanks. I phoned the office and Suzanne’s sending some help over. Besides, I want to wait with
Brilliante
until the rendering service gets here.”
When Sam pulled out she could see Mitch in her rearview mirror. He was bent over the still horse gently rubbing her neck.
It was dusk when Sam finished her calls and headed home. It started snowing again and she could barely see the road that turned into the entrance to Evergreen. She was going down the drive to the old ranch house that was now her home when Sam saw Isabella’s car in the driveway of her parent’s house and pulled in behind her. When Sam was in high school, her mom and dad built a new house and renovated the old farm house for her grandma and grandpa, who moved up from Texas so they could be close by their only daughter. Her grandma died when Sam was in college and her mom moved her grandpa into the big house. Then, when Sam broke up with Steve, she moved into the old farm house.
Sam walked through the front door of her parent’s house and hollered, “Anyone home?”
“Just us,” answered Isabella. She was in the den watching a movie with Mason.
“Hey Mason. How’s it going?” Sam asked as she gave him a smooch on his cheek. He grinned and gave her a bear hug in return.
“Willie Wonka,” he said pointing to the screen. His attention returned to the Oompaloompa’s and the river of chocolate.
“What’s up girlfriend?” Sam asked Isabella.
“Well, your dad’s upstairs sleeping. I think he’s drugged enough to make it through the night. Your mom’s at a board meeting and should be back any minute.”