by K. C. Crowne
Yes, I grew up wealthy. Yes, I was supposed to inherit my father's business. None of that defined me though. Not that they cared. Had anyone actually taken the time to talk to me instead of treating me like an outsider, maybe they would have understood my motivations for getting into this life. Maybe, they would have learned what drove me.
However, just like Austin did, they all assumed they knew me, and judged me accordingly.
I crawled into my tent as Austin handed out our orders for the next morning. We were all to sleep, get rested up, and head out to one of the fire lines early the next morning. The sun was still beating down on us, as it was still early. I'd slept before we left though, wanting to be ready for anything.
I stared up at the top of the tent and knew there was no way in hell I'd be able to sleep now. Not because this wasn't a five-star hotel, as Wes might like to think, but because there was too much on my mind. I rolled over and pulled out my phone. I had several missed calls from my mom. I already knew what the voicemails were before clicking on them. My finger hovered over the delete button for a moment, indecision stealing through me, but finally, I pushed it.
I shut my phone off, hoping that would stop my brain from thinking about my family. I was in the middle of a wildfire, I had a job to do, and I needed to put my energy into that. I couldn't let familial politics mess up my focus.
I wasn't sure how much time had passed as I laid there, trying to shut my brain off. I'd brought a book to read and was doing my best to get lost in a fictitious world, when I heard her voice right outside my tent. Sarah was talking to someone, but I couldn't make out who until I heard her voice rise.
“Jacklyn, it'll be okay. You just need to get out of there,” she said. “No, don't wait. Leave, now. Before it's too late. Tell Milo and the guys that they need to get out of there. Pack up the horses and go. This is going to be really bad.”
I sat up. I knew she was on the phone with her sister, and I could plainly hear the true panic in her voice now. Hearing her like that, so freaked out and scared, cut me deeply. I opened up the tent flap and peeked out. She was pacing outside my tent, her phone in one hand, biting the nails on the other, as she continued begging her sister to just leave the area already.
“No, you don't need to deliver the foal before you leave,” she said. “Get the mare somewhere safe and help her give birth there.”
Hearing that piqued my interest even more. I crawled out of the tent, and Sarah caught sight of me as she was pacing. She mouthed an apology, but I waved her off.
“Everything okay?” I asked her.
She covered the mouth piece of the phone. “My sister works at a ranch nearby. They've been ordered to evacuate, but she's being stubborn. One of their horses is in the middle of delivering a foal and is having problems with the birth. She doesn't want to leave her and says they can't transport her. The owners of the ranch happen to be out of town visiting family right now, and she's alone.”
“Oh,” I said, pushing myself up to a standing position. “What's wrong exactly?”
“She doesn't know yet, and the all the vets have evacuated too. All she has are a few ranch hands,” she said, then turned back to the conversation on the phone. “No, Sarah, you don't need help. You need to leave. Don't worry about loading up all the horses – get the other guys to do that. I'm telling you that you need to go. This fire is moving fast and is eating everything in its way. Get yourself out of there, please. You can't do it alone, and Milo wouldn't expect you to either.”
“Does she need help?” I asked.
Sarah shot me a perplexed look but continued talking to her sister.
“I have experience with horses,” I added. “I grew up around them. I've helped birth a few, I know a thing or two. Maybe I can help.”
“We're not supposed to leave –” Sarah started to say, then cut herself off as Jacklyn continued on the other end of the line. She looked at me for a long time before saying, “Jacklyn, if you refuse to leave, I'm coming to you. I'm going to drag your ass out of there, kicking and screaming if I have to. You need to get out of the way of this monster.”
She hung up the phone and started walking away, but I caught up to her fairly quickly.
“I drove myself, I have my truck,” I said. “I can drive.”
“You shouldn't get involved with this, Owen,” she said. “You're already in enough trouble as it is.”
“Then what's a little more?” I said with a shrug. “Not like Austin is going to let me do anything anyway, might as well be useful somehow.”
She side-eyed me. I could tell she wanted to fight with me, to protest, but she also hadn't brought her own vehicle. If there was one thing I knew about Sarah, it was that her family always came first. Her job was important, and she was a damn good firefighter, but I knew that her job would never get in the way of her loved ones. It was another thing I'd admired about her. I'd never had family that stuck to you like that, and it was nice to see a strong, familial bond.
“Fine,” she said. “But I'm not responsible if you get your ass fired.”
“Come on, Austin totally picks favorites,” I argued on the drive over to her sister's ranch.
The sky was filled with thick gray smoke, but so far, the fires were far enough from her ranch that the roads were still empty. There was an evacuation order for the area surrounding the ranch, but so far, her sister was safe. I knew Sarah was just being practical, though. Better safe than sorry where family is concerned. The fire could move fast, especially with the Santa Ana winds we were expecting that evening, and throughout the coming week. Things could go from bad to worse in the blink of an eye, leaving people with little time to escape if the winds shifted – and they always shifted.
Sarah had picked a fight the moment we got in my truck, however. Bringing up what happened at the warehouse days prior, for some odd reason. I gritted my teeth and tried to change the subject, but she was hellbent on arguing with me for reasons I couldn't quite fathom, so I relented. I pointed out how Austin let Wes and her get away with things that I'd never get away with in a million years. Things I'd never be able to do without incurring the wrath of Austin. I had to think it came down to more than just me being a newbie too. It felt – personal.
“He doesn't respect me,” I said, my jaw clenching as I spoke the words I knew to be true. “Which is fine. I know respect had to be earned, but he's never even given me a chance.”
“Bullshit,” Sarah scoffed, rolling her eyes. “He's given you plenty of chances to prove yourself, Owen.”
“Oh yeah? When?”
She stared at the road in front of us, seemingly lost in thought. She opened her mouth to speak and then shut it again, obviously at a loss for words to prove her point.
“See? I told you. I get stuck with all the shitty tasks,” I said. “No one thinks I have what it takes to be a fireman.”
“That's not true,” she said. “You're the only one who thinks like that.”
I gripped the steering wheel firmly, feeling every muscle in my body tighten up. There was no way she'd see what it was like to be in my shoes. Austin treated her better than the rest. Even Luke got the short end of the stick when Sarah was involved. He seemed to favor her, above everybody else.
“Come on, Sarah,” I said, my voice raising higher than intended. “Even you have your doubts.”
“No, I don't, actually,” she said. “The only thing I doubt is your ability to not get someone killed because you're too damn stubborn for your own good sometimes. Honestly though, I think if you get past that, you'll be just fine. I think you have what it takes to be a solid firefighter.”
Her assessment surprised me. I looked over at her, reading her face to see if she was being serious, or if she was about to deliver the punchline. No one had ever believed in me before. Then again, it wasn't exactly a shining endorsement, either. It was just another case of someone blaming me for not being taken seriously, when I'd never been given the chance to prove myself.
“Easy for you to say, since Austin adores you, and thinks you walk on water,” I said.
“Don't talk about Austin and me.”
Her tone was sharp as a knife. I'd quite obviously hit a sore spot, which piqued my curiosity. More than a little – and being who I was, I just had to dig deeper.
“Oh? Is there something going on between the two of you?” The words were bitter coming out of my mouth.
“Nothing I want to talk about,” she said, slinking down in her seat.
The GPS alerted me that we were close. Sarah just stared out the window, no longer talking to me as I turned down a road that was supposed to lead to the Bucknell Ranch. A sign greeted us as we drove along, signaling that we were in the right place. Sarah sat up again as we approached the property. The sky around us was thick with smoke, a red flickering glow behind that curtain of darkness. It was a vision straight out of the Apocalypse. I shut it all out and continued on down the road.
I had to admit I'd been raised well, but the house, along with the land was impressive even to me. Being from California, I knew it was rare to have acreage, especially that close to San Diego. The ranch, however, had been around forever – long before California had become part of the United States, Sarah informed me. The main house was large and built in a traditional Mexican style. A large open-air porch wrapped around the house. Several smaller outbuildings were scattered around. People could rent out lodges, and of course, there were the stables. It was nice getaway away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
It also appeared mostly empty, minus a couple horses in the field.
Sarah had already pulled out her phone, and she was dialing.
“Jacklyn? We're here. Where are you?” she asked.
I parked the truck, and the front door of the main house opened. A petite woman with long, strawberry blonde hair rushed over to us, her face tight with fear. Instantly, I knew she was Sarah's sister. The two looked so much alike, it was scary. Except Jacklyn was even smaller than Sarah, as impossible as that seemed. She was still in decent shape, but had more lean muscle to her body, and was about three inches shorter than the already short Sarah.
Sarah jumped from the truck and wrapped her arms around her sister. I had to admit, seeing it made my heart swell a bit, but it also made me sad. It made me yearn for a family I never had. I kicked a rock and stared down at the ground, letting the two women catch up without my interference.
“This is Owen,” Sarah said after a few minutes, pulling me into the conversation. “He offered to help out.”
Jacklyn took me in, appraising me with her steely gaze before smiling. She reached her hand out and gave me a soft smile.
“Nice to meet you, Owen,” she said. “I'm Jacklyn, Sarah's little sister.”
“The resemblance is uncanny,” I said.
“You think so?” Jacklyn said.
She grinned as if that was the best compliment someone could give her. Even she recognized how beautiful her sister was. I think anyone with eyes could see it though.
“Yeah, I do,” I said. “There's no denying that you two are related.”
Both women grinned from ear-to-ear, and it was hard not to smile along with them. Jacklyn's eyes suddenly grew wide, and she said, “Oh! I almost forgot. Eric is coming back by to help too. He's just had some errands to run.”
“Eric?” I asked.
Sarah sighed and rolled her eyes, but Jacklyn couldn't contain the excitement. “He's one of the lodgers.”
“And my sister has a thing for him, apparently,” Sarah said dryly.
“And that's a bad thing, why?” I asked.
“Because –” Sarah stopped herself. “Never mind. Let's just drop it. I'm happy to meet him if he stops by.”
Jacklyn laughed, playfully punching her sister in the arm. “Don't scare him off, okay, sis? I mean it.”
“I'll try not to,” Sarah said.
Jacklyn turned back to me. “She's a bit overprotective of me. Both my sisters are.”
“It must be nice,” I said, which prompted both girls to look at me, a puzzled expression on their faces. “I mean, to have someone care about you enough to look out for you. That's nice.”
Jacklyn rolled her eyes. “It's nice that she cares, but it's annoying too. I'm a grown-ass woman.”
“You're twenty-four, Jackie,” Sarah said.
“Yeah, legally an adult,” Jacklyn said, her tone taking a sharp turn. “Not a baby anymore.”
You could cut the sudden tension between them with a knife. Admittedly, I'm typically not someone to break up catfights or arguments. I'm usually the one in the middle of the drama, whether I wanted to be or not. This was entirely new to me, and I decided it might be good to diffuse the situation, given what we were dealing with at the moment.
“So we need to get the horses out of here?” I asked.
Jacklyn nodded, Sarah sighed.
“Yes, I'm not leaving them here to die. If things get bad enough for me to leave, they come too,” she said.
“Alright, do you have a truck? A trailer? We should get moving,” I said,suddenly, finding myself taking charge of the situation. Surprisingly, Sarah seemed content to let me, so I just went with it. “And there's one in labor, correct?”
“Yes, Silver. She's been in labor for hours now and won't budge,” Jacklyn said. “I tried to call the vets, but all the local ones have already evacuated or are preparing to leave. Nobody's coming to help.”
“Can I see her?” I asked.
Jacklyn looked surprised but said, “Sure. Follow me.”
I walked behind Jacklyn, Sarah coming up behind me. We walked over to the first stable, the one closest to the main house, and before entering, I heard the familiar sound of a horse whinnying, obviously in pain and discomfort. I pushed my way past Jacklyn and found the horse, a gray mare, in distress.
“Sweet girl,” I whispered, stroking her face.
Sarah stood back, watching me as if I'd grown an extra head as I comforted the creature. The horse calmed down at my touch, and with Jacklyn's help. The mare's eyes were wide, and I could see the fear filling them, but she calmed down enough for me to do what I needed to do.
“Who knew you were such an animal lover, Owen,” Sarah said.
“Yeah, well, there's a lot you don't know about me,” I muttered. “Did you really think I was vegan for my own health?”
“You're vegan?” Jacklyn asked, then looked over at Sarah with a smile. “He's a keeper.”
“We're not dating,” Sarah said, crossing her arms in front of her with a laugh. “He's one of the guys in my house.”
She leaned against the stable, but her eyes softened as she looked at the horse.
“Can you keep her calm while I have a look?” I said.
Jacklyn agreed, moving to the front of the horse and stroked her, talking to her in soothing tones. I moved around to the back of the horse, stroking the silvery strands that undoubtably gave her the name she bore. She was a beautiful horse that actually reminded me of one I had as a child. The situation she was in reminded me of a time when I was a kid as well. We had a horse in distress giving birth. I remembered it was my first time seeing anything like it, but I helped our ranchhand, Martha, deliver a breeched foal in the middle of the night. I remembered the scene and was still somewhat awed by it.
Thinking back to Martha, I heard her voice in my head. She'd been so cool and collected that night and had taken charge of the situation. She reminded me to breathe, to stay calm, and to keep my emotions in check. She told me the animal can tell if you're stressed out, and that letting my emotions take hold of me would only add to their stress as well.
Silver was already freaked out and in pain, and I didn't want to make it any worse for her. I had a feeling that Silver's foal was breach – just like the horse had been when I was a child – so, I knelt down behind the mare and spoke to her in soothing tones, just as Jacklyn was doing. The mare's body was still tensed and tight, and her eyes were wide with distress.
I patted her flank, then not even giving it a second thought, I reached inside of her as slowly and delicately as I could. There was no getting around the fact that was I was doing was invasive as hell, but there was no other way around it. All I could do was be as gentle as I could.
Sarah made a retching noise behind me.
“Nothing about childbirth is sexy,” I muttered.
The moment I reached in, I felt the foal's hind end. Just as I thought, a breech birth. “God dammit, this isn't going to be easy,” I said. “Keep her calm, Jacklyn. This isn't going to be a lot of fun for any of us.”
Sarah was now right behind me, kneeling beside me. “Do you need help?”
“Just keep the mare calm,” I said. “I need to get the back feet up and out, or else this foal isn't coming out without surgery. Which, given the conditions outside, and the fact that all the vets have evacuated, I'm pretty sure mean a horrible, agonizing death for both of them.”
Sarah rubbed Silver's side. The horse's tail swished back and forth, and her abdomen contracted. The poor girl was trying, but the foal wasn't budging. She whinnied weakly, but in that small sound, I heard so much pain. She was suffering. Reaching inside of her again, I knew what I had to find a way to safely remove the foal – and quickly. With the fire bearing down on us, the impetus to get this done as quickly as possible was pressing down on me.
Sliding my hand and arm, into the mare, I pushed my way past the tail of the foal, and kept going until I felt a foot. Just one foot. That was all I needed for now. I grabbed hold of that foot and pulled on it with all my might. For a long moment, it didn't budge, and Silver let out a sound that was pure agony, tearing at my heart. There was nothing else I could do, unless I wanted to see mother and baby die. So, I gritted my teeth, clenched my jaw, and pulled until the foal came out over the pelvis, and slipped into the birth canal.
“Yes, good girl,” I said. “One more foot to go.”
I reached deeper inside one more time, searching for the other leg. We were almost there. My hand fell on the second back foot and I repeated my previous action. I did what Martha taught me to do. I cupped the foot in my hands and pulled hard. I pulled until both feet were hanging out of the birth canal. Silver contracted, and I helped pull on the foal at the same time.
