Vetted Again

by K'Anne Meinel

  “I think that would be a good idea, so we see what we have in our small herds and can tell if any of the wild horses have joined them. I think the roundup will also have to be after we have our babies?” she pointed out, giving her wife a gentle reminder.

  “Good point,” Allyssa laughed. They had become pregnant in January, and they were both due to give birth in September. “You realize we have the hot summer months to waddle through?”

  “Yeah, I thought of that,” she grimaced. As a rancher and a veterinarian, there really was no good time to be pregnant. “At the end of my pregnancy, I’ll just be a supervisor for the interns. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you found them.”

  “They’re not here yet. We’ll see how grateful you are after working with them for the summer.” She laughed as she held up the journal she was reading. “I think I would like to start walking to some of the places that Molly mentions in her journal.”

  “Amazing what they went through, wasn’t it?” Fey agreed, glancing out the front window of the living room where they had been reading and chatting. They rarely turned on the television, preferring their own company. Rex was laying on the floor. Occasionally, he peeked with one eye to see if his humans needed anything. They could both see cats on the porch railings looking out at the escaped chickens that would soon be locked up for the night. “I mean, could you imagine the raw courage it took to come to this land?”

  “I was wondering how no one caught on in all those years that Erin was hiding her sexuality.”

  “People see what they want to see, and Erin presented as male to them, so naturally people thought of her as a man.”

  Allyssa, herself very feminine, was amazed and couldn’t wait to read Erin’s side of things. Fey had just started reading Erin’s journals as Allyssa finished up the ones written by Molly. “Would you mind if I typed up these journals when we are finished with them?”

  Fey looked at her, surprised by the idea. Then, she smiled delightedly and replied, “That’s a great idea. We can save them for our children.” Her hand went unconsciously to her rounding belly.

  Allyssa nodded. The journals were in great condition, but they wouldn’t last forever. They wouldn’t want them to ever be misplaced, stolen, or in the case of this family’s misfortune, burned. The house they were living in had been rebuilt twice due to fire. The cabins that Fey’s ancestors had lived in were also rebuilt twice. In fact, the cabin they worked in was the final home Molly had lived in with Erin, and now, they both felt an affinity with Fey’s great-great-grandmother even though Allyssa was only related by marriage. Fey learned that the children her grandparents adopted long ago hadn’t known that their adoptive parents were two women, who had loved each other enough to live their lives together and raise a family and pretend to be man and wife. “And we can save the journals for your brother and sister too,” she pointed out.

  “I don’t think Rosemary would want them to know,” she answered, reminding her wife that her stepmother seemed to want to make everyone miserable.

  “Well, your dad said someday,” she pointed out.

  “They will be ready for them then.” She thought a moment and asked, “Do you think other people might want to read their story?” She indicated the trunk that held copies of all the journals in chronological order that was a regular fixture in their living room these days.

  “I think they would because it’s a matter of history in this area. And I believe it would interest anyone who enjoys history and wants to know what it was like to travel on a wagon train or live in those days.”

  “Good point. Let’s have Renee start typing up the books we’ve already both read. It’ll give her something to do instead of just surfing the internet when she’s not answering the phones.”

  Allyssa chuckled. There was enough down time that they’d both caught her doing that. She also helped Allyssa a lot with the Sweetwater Horse Rescue that they ran from the ranch. The original forty horses had gone up and down in numbers since they started the rescue last year, and with the rehab going on there was a rise in the numbers right now. The marketing they did almost constantly, which gave updates on what the practice and the rescue were doing, had a good number of followers, who avidly watched and waited for news as they posted pictures and news on the blogs and the websites. They subsided into silence for a while as they both read their respective journals.

  “Are you going to tell your family about this?” Fey asked after reading Erin’s version of how she felt adopting five children.

  “This?” Allyssa asked, looking up from the journal she was reading and wondering if Fey meant the journals. She saw her wife staring pointedly at her belly. She wasn’t very big, but that could also vary with each pregnancy. “I guess.” She shrugged. “Eventually, I’ll have to, eh?”

  “That’s up to you,” her wife answered, still wondering at her attitude.

  “I kind of don’t want to tell anyone yet...until it’s obvious, and even then....”

  “Leslie said it should be fine,” she pointed out, wondering what her wife was thinking.

  “Yeah, I know.” She shrugged again. “I just don’t want everyone knowing our business. I want...” she left off, not sure what she wanted.

  “You know you can talk to me,” Fey said quietly.

  Allyssa smiled at her wife. “I can tell you anything, but if I don’t know what I’m feeling, I can’t share that, can I?”

  Fey had to admit that was a valid point, and she dropped the subject for now.

  * * * * *

  The new interns flew in to Portland and then took a shorter flight to Pendleton where Allyssa picked them up in her Jeep.

  “Mrs. Herriot?” Althea said in a voice that belied her appearance. Allyssa had been expecting a thin equestrian gal, but instead, she was met with a robust and hearty woman who, while about the same age as Allyssa, seemed very confident. Allyssa had learned she was primarily studying equines in her research.

  “Hello, Mrs. Herriot,” Buddy held out his hand. He, on the other hand, was thin and a bit on the wimpy side. After studying large animal practices, she couldn’t think of a less likely person to handle the animals that Fiona dealt with every day. Still, they were there for the summer and their help was welcome. The practice needed them with the primary vet being pregnant.

  “Please, call me Allyssa,” she corrected them both. “The Jeep is this way, if you have your bags?” she asked.

  “Oh, I checked a bag,” Althea told her, and Allyssa swerved from the exit to the conveyor belt where luggage could be retrieved.

  “Me too,” Buddy added, looking at their hostess as though trying to figure her out. She was young, but from what he had seen in checking out Herriot Veterinary Services online, she was competent. He’d read many of her blogs and had thought her much older than she appeared. The pictures he had found hadn’t done her justice.

  “Is your practice far from here?” Althea asked as they waited for the luggage.

  “It’s down near Sweetwater,” she explained, hoping they had studied a map. Things were spread out in this part of Oregon and they’d be traveling all over. “We come to Pendleton to stock up on things that we can’t get in town. Our post office is in the small town, but we are about four miles from there.”

  Althea nodded, wondering how lonely it was on the remote ranch and if their hostess ever got bored. She’d seen the blogs and the website and thought it was a good idea to promote the practice but wondered how much business they really got. The RV was impressive. She’d studied the pictures, impressed with its setup and thinking about having one for the practice she would set up someday. Meanwhile, this internship would go a long way towards earning credits back at school. She intended to make the most of it, no matter how small a practice it was.

  Buddy was thinking along the same lines but also wondered why a young girl would want to be so far from the city, out in the back country where conveniences were only found in half a dozen stores.

 
; Both students had brought sleeping bags as Allyssa had instructed. Both would be sleeping in the RV with Fiona as they learned her large animal practice away from the ranch. Althea was to stay in the guest room in the ranch house, and Buddy would get the mobile home behind the barn. Their bags were easily hoisted, and they headed out to the Jeep. Allyssa was glad she had stocked up before picking them up as their suitcases and sleeping bags could go on top of the supplies.

  “How often do you stock up?” Althea asked, glancing at the boxes of canned and dried goods.

  “Usually once a month but more if there is a special deal as it’s more cost-efficient. We do the same on veterinary supplies when I see something is on sale from one of our suppliers. We might have an excess for a while but eventually, we’ll use it.”

  “Does Dr. Herriot see a lot of horses?” she asked, revealing where her interest lay.

  “A fair amount. She also sees cattle, sheep, and exotics like llamas and alpacas. One rancher even has ostriches,” she added with a laugh. They had recently acquired this odd little rancher, who was convinced that ostriches were the next big thing.

  “Does Dr. Herriot know a lot about ostriches?” Buddy asked, showing interest.

  “She’s studied up on them, and of course, she is learning as she goes, as you will,” Allyssa admitted. “Then, there is the small-animal practice where she sees dogs, cats, and birds but those aren’t her primary clients,” she added as she saw both of their concerned faces. She knew they had come to learn and observe a large animal practice.

  As they set out both looked around curiously as the immense farmlands gave way to hills and valleys as they made their way down the highway heading south. Pulling off the highway onto the road that led to the ranch, they noticed a vast difference. While pulling onto the dirt ‘road’ that constituted their long driveway, Allyssa could see that Buddy looked a lot more nervous than Althea.

  “Is this different from California?” Allyssa asked Buddy.

  He immediately nodded, looking at the high plains of Oregon with interest. California didn’t have the yucca plants or other vegetation unique to this part of the country. Still, some of the land that was under the plow was as rich as the valleys in California that supplied stores with foodstuffs.

  “Do you get much rain?” Althea asked, noting how brown things appeared.

  “Yes, we do. But it depends on what makes it over the coast. Sometimes, storms bounce off the mountains and we get a double whammy. That can be especially bad in winter.” She was already thinking of the winter snows and it was only June!

  “How does Doctor Herriot cope with driving in snow?” Buddy asked, not having dealt with it before in California.

  “Her RV has four-wheel drive and it’s like driving a tank. I’m sure you saw it online?” she asked them and saw them both nod, which confirmed they had checked out the doctor’s practice. “You could literally live in it for a week or more. You will both have to familiarize yourselves with where Fiona, um, Dr. Herriot,” she almost laughed aloud at calling Fey by her official name, “stores everything. We stock up from the home practice.”

  “Do you see many patients at the ranch?” Althea asked, her girlish voice much different than her sturdy and stocky appearance.

  “We occasionally have a clinic. In fact, I’ll talk to Fiona about doing that while you two are here, so you can get the experience.” She saw they both looked intrigued by the idea. “We have done cat and dog clinics the last two years to help the community by providing low-cost spays and neuters as well as immunizations.”

  “I saw that on your blog. Pretty successful?” Buddy asked.

  Allyssa nodded before continuing. “Yes, and I was wondering if we should also do a horse clinic since you two are both interested in large animal practices. We’ll have to talk about it with Fiona and Renee.”

  “Who is Renee?” Buddy asked, trying to get the lay of the practice ahead of time. He’d studied their website and blog and thought he had read everything.

  “Oh, she helps answer the phones and do the websites, pretty much everything except working with patients. I’m studying to get my Veterinary Assistant’s degree.”

  “Oh, I thought you already had it?” Althea asked.

  “No, but Fey, er Fiona, lets me help out when it’s needed. I’ll have my degree next year.”

  “It really shouldn’t take that long,” Buddy put in, as though he was helping her.

  “Yeah, it usually just takes a year, but I’m taking online courses and I’m not working at it full-time. I have to drive all the way to Portland for the hands-on exams,” she explained, trying not to feel defensive.

  “Why don’t you go full-time?” Althea asked.

  “Fiona needs me at the ranch. When we started the practice, it was just us, and now, with the rescue and the other programs, we need more help.” She wasn’t going to explain about the pregnancies; that was none of their business.

  During the remainder of the ride Allyssa found herself resenting some of their more intrusive questions. It was obvious that both interns had their own ideas of how the practice should run. It would prove interesting to see if they felt the same way after their four months with Fey. It was also apparent they thought her too young for the responsibilities that Fey had given her with the practice. They had no idea about her competence, and Allyssa tried to rein in her resentment and not let it show.

  They didn’t seem too impressed with the ranch or the accommodations either. Although Buddy appreciated the privacy of the mobile home, it was very apparent he would prefer the room in the house, so Allyssa accommodated him. Having both interns in the house wasn’t going to be fun but she was trying to be nice. She could tell Buddy thought the mobile home below his standards when he saw its yellow, aluminum siding.

  She’d be glad when Fey got home to handle them, but apparently, she was out on a call. Allyssa showed them the cabin and the add-on with its modern conveniences, introduced them to Renee, Woody, and Rhonda, and showed them the operating theater in the barn. She could tell they weren’t impressed with anything, and she hoped it was merely their exhaustion from traveling that was making them both so condescending and rude. They also didn’t want Rex or Rocky to bother them. As the interns looked disdainfully around the neat ranch yard in the little valley that spread to the range and beyond, they exchanged looks that clearly said the ranch and practice were too remote. Allyssa, standing beside the pool in the middle of the ranch yard, was explaining how their range went all the way to those hills, pointing them out in the far distance and explaining that they hid hills, streams, and even a large lake on the high prairie but that didn’t impress them. They both looked at the melting snow in the far-off mountains as though it were going to be in their backyard. They looked alarmed when Allyssa strapped her gun back on her belt; she hadn’t needed it for the trip to Pendleton. Allyssa finally left them to walk around on their own.

  “When will we be having dinner?” Althea asked for them both as Allyssa tried to take a break and read in one of the journals. She was pleased Renee had already transcribed one of them into a file. Renee was also eagerly reading the story now and couldn’t wait to get to the second journal. She was double-checking her work, so the feeling of the journal was exactly as Molly had written it. Both Allyssa and Renee were looking forward to reading Erin’s version of events when they got to those journals.

  Allyssa looked up from where she sat on the porch. She had a cat on her lap as she sat on the swing unconsciously rubbing her stomach. “Oh, what time is it?” she asked, looking at the digital readout on her phone. It was only four in the afternoon. She realized Althea must still be on Eastern time. “You are welcome to make yourself a snack while you are waiting,” she offered, thinking she was being generous.

  The woman sighed loudly through her nose in response, and even Rex raised his head to watch as she stomped back in the house to look for food. Allyssa carefully wrapped the old journal in plastic and headed for the cabin that
housed their small clinic. She decided getting away from the house for a while was a good idea. After all, where had the two interns been when she unloaded the boxes of food from the Jeep? She’d done the work all by herself and seeing her reading on the porch, apparently doing nothing, must have irked Althea.

  “Hey, there,” she greeted Renee, who was busily typing away.

  “Hey, there,” Renee responded with a smile. “Done with your tour?”

  “Yep,” she said and looked around the pleasant, warm, little room she and her wife had lived in and worked in for years. The beautiful cabinets that housed medicines, books, and trinkets looked lovely in the afternoon light as the sun hit their leaded glass windows. She knew not everyone would appreciate what they had accomplished, but she was annoyed by the attitudes of the interns and wondered what she could have done differently. Their letters had indicated they were prepared to ‘rough it’ and were looking forward to working with Fey. Now, she got the impression they were grading them and disapproving of everything they had seen.

  “They seem a little...uptight,” Renee understated cautiously. “I think someone needs to get a stick out of her butt.”

  Allyssa laughed and then shook a finger at their assistant. It wouldn’t do to upset the two interns, who were working for the experience. They had to put up with them for four months, and this was only the first day. “Wanna take a stretch for a few? I’ll man the phones.”

  “Sounds good,” she said, carefully placing the journal she had been transcribing back in its plastic after marking the page she was on with a bookmark that looked like a large, flat dog bone.

  “Did you make that bookmark?”

  “No, it came with some of the samples in one of the boxes,” she admitted, showing it to Allyssa. You could personalize it by putting your business name on it, and the marketing materials also advertised that it came with magnets.

  “That’s clever,” she admitted and made a mental note to look for items Fey could hand out to their clients or she could mail out to clients with their statements. Having Herriot Veterinary Services’ name on customers’ refrigerators and near their phones would enhance and promote their practice.