They enjoyed a nice dinner of pork chops, stuffing, and squash that Fey whipped together. Since they had to check on their patient repeatedly, they stayed in the cabin that night, and took turns checking on him. This confused the dog and the cats, who were now used to them living in the farmhouse and weren’t sure what was going on.
Fiona felt bad that she had to go out on her regular rounds the next day, but Allyssa assured her she could keep an eye on Khan. She fielded the regular calls as usual and the periodic calls that came in from Mrs. Winters about Khan. Finally, on the fourth day, Khan showed signs of improvement, and Allyssa was grateful that Fey was there when he began to revive. He was a big dog and totally confused by his new surroundings. They had moved him from the stainless-steel operating bed to a stainless-steel kennel with a soft cushiony bed, but he was behind a cage for his own safety.
The first sign that he was really coming out of it was a howling noise coming from the poor, sleeping dog. He wasn’t quite awake, but the racket was incredible. Allyssa was alarmed at first, until she realized the noises weren’t due to him being in pain. The noises were being emitted by the unconscious dog as he began to come out of his anesthesia. She mentioned it to Fey when she called in for her messages, and Fey explained that some animals couldn’t handle anesthesia, and this was normal for them. She was pleased to hear he was waking up but warned it might take hours, maybe even days.
Allyssa had to temporarily move her office from the cabin to the house as she couldn’t stand the howling. She also didn’t want any of their callers to hear the noise. Who knew what they would think if they heard that howling in the background? The howling steadily increased in volume over the next day, a regular pattern that concerned Fiona when she checked on him. Still, it was a sign he was improving, and when it abruptly ended on the fifth day, Allyssa dropped everything and ran to see if he was dead, sure he had stopped breathing. Running into the cabin and through the addition, she was pleased to see him lying there, blinking at his unfamiliar surroundings, and looking sleepy. He good-naturedly thumped his tail when he saw her.
“Hey there, Khan,” she said softly, pleased to see him alive.
He looked up, happy that she knew his name. He looked around and Allyssa wondered if he was worried about being back in a cage. He made no attempt to get up, and the pillow around his neck kept him from licking at the leg they had shaven to get at the bite and administer an IV.
“There’s a good boy,” she crooned through the wire, seeing his intelligent eyes glance at her gratefully. He yawned either for affect or because he was still coming off the anesthesia. Keeping him calm was still important. She left him to call Fey and let her know he had awoken. She didn’t reach her wife, but that was nothing new since who knew where she was or if she even got a signal. Allyssa left a voice message and continued with her own work. She’d finished the article on snakes and was waiting for Fey to read it over and add her comments. She was excited to get it up on the blogs for both the clinic and the rescue since horses could be bitten too. In fact, horses were more likely to be bitten by snakes. And since horse blood was such a crucial part of the cure, it was a nice addendum to the article.
Allyssa stood on the porch looking towards the hills that led to the mountains. A couple of the rescue horses stood around the outside of the corrals hoping for attention or treats. Some were just needy and wanted the socialization of the humans or the horses they kept for their own riding pleasure. That reminded her, they wanted to get volunteers in from around the area to ride the rescue horses and perhaps, adopt them. These horses could stay on their range indefinitely but that meant they couldn’t rescue more.
When Fey got home, she immediately checked on Khan, who they carefully took out of the kennel and walked around the addition. This small exertion exhausted him, but it gave Allyssa time to change his bedding and put food and water down in the kennel before they returned him. He looked decidedly sorry for himself, but they were hopeful and were delighted to be able to give Mrs. Winters a positive report for a change. She was thrilled and asked to come the following day, so she could see for herself.
“I’d change the wording here and that isn’t right there,” Fiona pointed as she read the blog. “Otherwise, it’s great information, and I like the links you chose, so those who want technical information and additional reading can find them.”
“I also wrote another blog to try and get some volunteers to help with the rescue. We’ve ignored them as they settled in, but really, we have to be thinking about finding adoptive homes, if we can.”
“I have to contact someone about the therapy aspect. I had a name a while ago,” Fey mused, trying to remember.
“You know, we have our housewarming party in a little over a week, and I have to go up to Pendleton for supplies,” Allyssa reminded her.
“I can’t believe your parents didn’t answer,” Fey commented, feeling bad for her wife.
“Well, at least my sister and brother-in-law are coming, although seeing Derek isn’t on my all-time favorite things list,” she said, remembering how condescending he had been.
“Will it bother you to see Carmen pregnant?”
Allyssa shrugged. She hadn’t really thought about it, and they hadn’t tried again since that first unsuccessful attempt. She hadn’t gotten her period yet, but she was horny like normal, so she might be fertile, as Fey had explained previously. “I guess it’s just the natural progression of life.”
Fey had wondered if she thought about their own attempt, and she had guessed right. She wanted to try again but didn’t want to push Allyssa into anything she wasn’t ready for.
“I better feed the chickens and lock them up for the night,” Allyssa commented as she looked out to see how late it was, knowing they would go to roost soon. Apparently, that was something they did naturally, so she hadn’t needed to teach them, which she was grateful for. She always closed the little doors they had cut in the side of the shed, so nothing could get in there. Once or twice already, Rex had chased off a persistent coyote, who thought to have an easy meal. “Oh, and Rosemary confirmed today that she and your father will be coming with the kids. I think she expects to stay in the house and wanted to make sure we had the room in our ‘little’ place,” she added, making quotation marks with her fingers.
Fey grinned, knowing her stepmother would phrase it exactly like that. She had no idea the size of the new farmhouse they had built. She glanced over at the now finished house. The plants she and Allyssa had planted to make it look homey were already growing and giving it a permanence she loved. Still, it was raw and new and was the reason for this party.
Fey allowed Khan to go home at the end of the week. A grateful Mrs. Winters picked him up and paid her bill in full on the spot. The blog article that Allyssa put up received a lot of shares and likes, as well as comments and questions the doctor had willingly answered when she could.
They’d had a few responses to their call for volunteers. It was mostly kids, who wanted to help, but they had a few adults willing to come out and care for the horses and a few that were looking at being potential adoptees. They moved some of the horses in closer to the ranch, which the lead mare did not like.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The weekend of the house-warming was looming, and for once, Fey was able to take the weekend off. They prayed no emergencies would come up since a lot of her clients had responded to the invitation and would be at the party.
Rosemary, Keith, and the kids came on Thursday, supposedly to help but creating more work than necessary for the younger couple. On Friday, Derek and Carmen arrived and surprisingly, Allyssa’s mother. Her father sent his regrets saying he was so busy at work, but Carmen let on that he had a new girlfriend, who wasn’t happy she hadn’t been invited. Allyssa hadn’t thought to address it ‘and guest.’ That had simply never occurred to her.
“Mother!” Allyssa greeted her, pleased to see her after a year and a half apart and giving her a big hug of welcome.
“My, that’s quite a greeting,” she answered, pleased to see her younger daughter looking so healthy and happy. She didn’t like what she was wearing—jeans, boots, and a t-shirt—but otherwise she looked well.
“I’m so glad you made the trip,” Allyssa enthused.
“That’s quite a drive,” she admitted, smiling to include both her daughters. When she saw the older woman that was her daughter’s wife, her smile faltered.
“Mrs. Webster,” Fiona said formally, holding out her hand to be shaken.
“Please, call me Helen,” she said as she took the firm grip. “This is lovely,” she said, indicating the house.
“Thank you,” Fey responded, surprised and pleased for Allyssa that her mother had come even if she hadn’t responded to the invitation. She knew they were going to have to shuffle her brother and sister around from the rooms they had been given, but she knew they wouldn’t mind if they could be put up in the RV.
“That’s quite a setup you have there,” Derek indicated the RV, which was parked where it would be the first thing you saw as you came over the last hill into their little valley.
“I owe it all to my wife,” she answered as she came forward to be introduced to her brother-in-law. “I’m Fiona Herriot. My family and close friends call me Fey.”
“Derek,” he answered, shaking her hand and studying the woman who had upset all their plans for Allyssa. The whole family had been in an uproar until Bob’s behavior distracted them, and then Carmen’s visit had settled things down. He glanced at his pregnant wife, seeing her chatting and smiling with her younger sister. She’d changed her attitude about her sister’s lifestyle a while ago.
Fey’s father, brother, and sister came over and were introduced to the new arrivals. Fey pulled her siblings aside and quietly asked them to move their things into the RV. They were thrilled. She also asked them to remake the beds with clean bedding for the newcomers.
“Well, I don’t think they should stay out–” Rosemary began rudely when she found out her children were being displaced for the other woman’s family.
“Sean and Traci will love it,” Keith cut her off before she could build up a head of steam. “It’s like camping out but without the dirt,” he added. He didn’t want the Websters hearing his bad-mannered wife as it would reflect badly on his daughter and her wife.
As they situated everyone in their rooms, a dilapidated, old truck pulled into the yard and Allyssa went to greet her guests.
“I have some of the first pickings that fell for your rescues,” Mrs. Feldman said as she climbed out of the cab of the truck.
“Hello!” Allyssa greeted her, obviously pleased to see their neighbor. “You could have brought them this weekend with the party.”
“You think I want to drive that,” she thumb-pointed at the old truck, “or be seen in it any more often than necessary?” They shared a laugh. “Where do you want the apples?”
Fiona came up to see what was going on and was delighted to see the apples, some of them perfectly good but not suitable for human consumption after having fallen on the ground. The Feldmans sold great quantities of apples commercially.
“I think we have plenty of baskets and boxes in the barn,” she put in, greeting their neighbor with a smile.
With the help of the kids, Fiona, Keith, and even Derek and Carmen, they soon emptied the back of the old truck.
“I think my great-grandparents had an orchard, but a fire wiped it out,” Keith commented as he helped. He remembered Mrs. Feldman from way back and had greeted her.
“Yeah, they had a few fires in this area from what my grandparents told me,” Mrs. Feldman agreed, thankful they had more modern equipment to water their crops and keep the fields wet. She eyed the Herriot’s grass-filled fields, unused except for an occasional horse or cow.
“Whew, I don’t think the smell of the apples is agreeing with me,” Allyssa said, wiping her brow as she stood up too quickly.
“You okay?” Fey asked, remembering dinner the other night where Allyssa had run to the bathroom and thrown up. She hoped Allyssa hadn’t caught a bug before the party. That would suck.
“Just a little dizzy,” she admitted, holding onto the side of the truck where she’d jumped down after filling the last of a bushel basket and handing it to Keith.
“Why don’t you sit down?”
“I’m fine,” she brushed off Fey’s concern, turning a smile on her to show she was fine.
“I saw your call for volunteers,” Mrs. Feldman put in just then as the last of the baskets was placed in the barn. “You’ll have my two daughters over here after the first harvest,” she promised.
“I look forward to meeting them at the party this weekend,” Allyssa turned her smile on their neighbor.
“Oh, you’ll meet them and every 4-H member in the county. You were the talk of the meeting last Tuesday and everyone who can come will be here.”
“That’s great. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Not half as much as we are,” she assured her, getting into the cab and waving as she left.
“Oh, look. Our moochers are getting the scent of their treat,” Fey put in, her arm going around her wife in case she needed steadying and pointing at the horses Keith and the children were already offering apples to.
“When word gets around, we’ll probably have the whole herd in,” Allyssa added with a laugh.
“That would be awesome,” Traci exclaimed enthusiastically. “I want to ride.”
“That’s dangerous on a strange horse,” Rosemary spoke up as she came down to see what all the fuss was about.
“I wish I could ride,” Carmen told the little girl, her hand smoothing down her stomach in emphasis of her condition.
“You can’t?”
“No, not until I have my baby.”
Traci looked at the small bump where a baby grew and glanced at Fiona. She knew they were going to try and have a baby too. She almost opened her mouth to say something, then glanced at her father and decided not to. She knew her mother didn’t approve as she had been very vocal upon hearing their news after their trip earlier in the summer. She turned back to the rescue horses, who were pleased to get their treats. “How will they know the apples are here?” she asked any adults that were listening.
“Horses have their own ways of communicating,” Fey told her. “And they will probably smell apple on the other horses’ breath,” she teased and got a chuckle out of her sister.
“Here you go,” Allyssa crooned as she reached out of Fey’s arm to feed the llamas, who were looking longingly at the treats. Using her pocket knife, she cut up slices for the llama and her cria.
“Look how big he got,” Traci exclaimed to Sean.
“Gawd, he’s cute,” he answered her, taking another apple to entice the cria.
“Make sure you cut it up. They aren’t like horses and can’t take the whole thing,” Allyssa explained, handing him her Swiss army knife. She knew he wanted one, but she couldn’t give him one as a present because of Rosemary.
That night, sitting down at the long dining room table with so many guests for the first time, Allyssa was glad that Fey had insisted they buy the extra table leaves and matching chairs. They had a red, checkered tablecloth that covered the table nicely and make it look homey. She thought her mother would look at it and sneer, but she was behaving herself. She was not being snooty at all, and it seemed she was enjoying herself as she chatted with Keith and got to know Fiona better.
Early the next morning, Keith and Fiona dug a long trench they filled with wood and lit on fire. Allyssa and Carmen brought out bags and bags of corn on the cob that Allyssa had purchased and put them in barrels of water next to the trench. Derek helped Fey place a long, steel grate over the trench once the fire was going and propped it up using stones on each corner.
“Here, I’ll help,” Traci said to Allyssa, who looked a little gray that morning. She had thrown up her breakfast, which she hoped no one knew ab
out. Allyssa was gathering produce from the garden. The zucchini had gone nuts. She’d had to purchase some vegetables that weren’t in season yet, like the corn on the cob, but she wanted to use up everything she could from their own garden.
“I’ll carry that,” Helen told the little girl when she tried to carry a basket that was too heavy.
Rosemary looked on as though she were supervising the entire process. Helen tried to talk to her repeatedly, but she really was standoffish.
Guests started arriving, bringing picnic tables in the backs of their pick-up trucks as well as food and drinks to share. The kitchen got very crowded with all the women going in and out and trying to help. Fey finally escaped to chat with her guests, mostly the men who wanted to talk about their cattle or sheep and even the horses, many whom could be seen leaning over the fences as more people arrived and gave them treats. Word had spread among the horses, and they seemed to know to come to the ranch yard for food and the bonus was all the people there to pet them.
There were well over one hundred people in the ranch yard as food was prepared over the large grill they had made. Talk was nonstop as Allyssa got to know their neighbors, clients, and now friends. People didn’t hesitate to introduce themselves. She’d spoken to many of them over the phone but had met few unless they bumped into each other in Sweetwater at the store and introduced themselves. Fey knew all of them because of her veterinary calls.
Fey finally had to ask people to stop feeding apples to the horses. The horses absolutely loved them. “I don’t want to have treat any of them for colic or a bad tummy if they overindulge,” she explained.
“Sarge! He took one at a time and set it down on the ground, then got another one,” one of their guests told her and they shared a laugh. “I figured out what he was doing after three apples and had to take one away…it almost worked.”
Bedford, one of the other horses, thought the apples might be fake, so he was very careful to smell them before he bit into one. It was almost too good to be true!
Vetted Further Page 16
