Page 44 of His Tenth Dance

“I’ll clean it anyway,” Kristie said, collecting an antiseptic wipe from her backpack. “I think this stall is too big. I don’t want her to feel trapped in a small stall, but I don’t want her to be able to move too much.”

She turned toward Mission, Deacon, and Gloria and tossed her cleaning towelette in the garbage can. “The medical barn would be better,” she said. “I know you guys air condition and heat that, and we don’t want Lady to be too hot or too cold. We’ll have to monitor her temperature, keep track of when she gets medications and antibiotics, make sure she’s eating and drinking, and check her bandages every few hours.”

She met Deacon’s eye. “Have you got a whiteboard where I can set all that up, so everyone knows where she is in her care?”

“Yeah, sure,” Deacon said.

“I can bring one from my house.”

“We’ve got ’em,” Deacon said.

She nodded and turned to Gloria. “Can one of you continue to administer her medications after the first couple of days?” Kristie asked. “I won’t be able to stay here indefinitely.”

The three of them looked at one another, with all eyes finally settling on Gloria.

“I can do it,” she said. “I can have Gerty come out too. She’s really good with that kind of stuff.”

Kristie nodded. Gerty Hammondwasexceptional with horses as well, from training them to nursing them back to health.

“All right,” she said. “The whiteboard will help keep track of all of that.” She turned to pack up her backpack and put her equipment and supplies back in the cases.

“I’ll just run back to my house and get the hoof support pads and the ice boots. We’ll keep this wound iced tonight to keep the inflammation down.”

“Thank you, Kristie,” Gloria said.

“Yes, thank you,” Deacon added.

Kristie put on her backpack, and Mission picked up her two cases. “I’ll walk you out,” he said.

“Can you guys get her in the medical barn while I’m gone?” she asked.

“Sure thing,” Deacon said, like it would just be a walk in the park.

Kristie nodded, glad the injury wasn’t worse, and hopeful that she would be able to nurse Lady back to full health.

She just had to, because she couldn’t imagine how devastating the loss of Lady would be to everyone here at this farm.

The sun had slipped behind the mountains hours ago, but the heat and exhaustion of the day still lingered in Kristie’s clothes and beneath her skin. Tension buzzed under her ribs like static, and she walked away from the medical barn and into the darkness to release it.

She took a deep breath and pushed the noise out, relieved when it streamed away.

Lady had been moved to the smaller stall with rubber pads and plenty of straw for comfort. The temperature was being perfectly regulated, and Kristie had just administered the second dose of medication, checked the bandages, replaced them, and put on the ice boots for the second time. The horse was as comfortable as she could possibly be, and the wound looked as good as Kristie could’ve hoped for.

She stretched her back and did a few knee lifts to work out the stiffness from being down on the ground so much tonight.

“When’s the last time you ate?” Mission’s soft voice came out of the darkness.

She turned toward him as he approached and let out a tired breath that was almost a laugh. “Lunch?” she guessed.

He reached up and pushed her hair back, leaned down and kissed her chastely for only a moment, then threaded his fingers through hers and took her back toward the medical barn.

“Gerty came to sit with her for tonight,” he said. “To give us all a break.”

Kristie almost started to cry in relief, though part of her wanted to stay with Lady herself. The barn lights cast long shadows into the night, but Mission avoided them, and the scent of bandages and blood got replaced by the sweeter smells of hay and sweat and summer.

As he led her along the fence of the back pasture, he stayed close—but quiet—and she didn’t need words to feel what settled between them.

Exhaustion, absolutely, but she felt strong with him at her side.

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