Page 41 of Trussed In Hope
I pulled out my phone, thumb flying to Andy’s number.
He picked up on the third ring, his voice scratchy with sleep. “Hardison? Everything alright?”
“Barely. I’ve got an injured goat, Andy. Wolves got to the fence. One of them’s down with a torn-up leg. I need to know what the hell to do until a vet can get here.”
That woke him up fast. I heard rustling, like he was sitting up. “Shit. Okay. First, get the goat away from the fence and into shelter. Barn, garage, whatever you got. Keep it separated from the others so they don’t stress it out more.”
“Got it.” I looped an arm around the animal, steady but firm, and carried it toward the barn while Andy rattled instructions.
“You’re gonna need to clean that wound. Warm water, no soap—just flush the dirt out. Do you have iodine or even hydrogen peroxide?”
“Yeah. Barn kits stocked.”
“Good. Flush it, disinfect it, and then wrap it with clean gauze. Not too tight, but snug enough to stop bleeding and keep crap out.”
I laid the goat down on some hay, stroking its head as I set the phone on speaker. “What about pain? It’s shaking.”
“Unless you've got livestock meds on hand, you can’t do much for that right now. But food, water, calm space—it’ll help. You’ll need to reinforce that fence before those wolves circle back.”
I glanced toward the dark line of the trees, the hairs on my neck prickling. “Yeah. They’ll be back.”
“You got tools?”
“Always.”
“Then dig the new post deep. And consider electric wire, if you don’t have it already. Wolves don’t give up easily.”
I huffed a humorless laugh. “Figures.”
The goat settled a little under my hand, its breathing evening out once I had the leg wrapped. Not perfect, but it’d hold.
“It’s wrapped the best I can. Hopefully, I can get someone out here soon.”
“I’m sure you did alright,” Andy said, voice steady in my ear. “Where abouts are you?”
“Florida, near Tallahassee.” I thought I heard something toward the fence, so I stood to look. Nothing that I could see was out there.
“I think I may know somebody. Keep an eye out for infection. Call me if it swells badly or oozes quickly. I’ll let you know what I find out.”
“Appreciate it, Andy.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Reinforce that fence before sunrise, or you’ll be patching up more than one goat next time.”
I hung up, slipped the phone back in my pocket, and sat there for a second in the barn’s quiet. The goat blinked up at me, trusting me in the way only animals and fools do.
When I finally stood, I was already planning the repairs in my head. Reinforced posts. Wire. Maybe motion lights. Wolves wanted my herd—they’d learn quick I wasn’t the man to test.
Still, before I headed back out, I took one last look at the goat, tucked safely in the straw. Callum ran down, late to the party.
“Is everything okay down here?” He looked at my hands, flashing the light on them.
“We have a fence that needs to be looked at to see how it snapped. Then, we need to dig deeper for the posts. We’ll need electrical wiring out here. Damn wolves are trying to kill off the animals. We need a vet to come down and look at her. I can try the one in town in the morning, but I don’t know if she knows anything about goats, and she doesn’t open until eleven. Other than that, for now, all is well.”
“And your hands?” He asked.
I couldn’t look at them right now, but I could feel how raw they were from wrestling with the goat and the wire at the same time. I didn’t want the sight of the blood to send me spiraling.
“I’ll handle his hands.” Emberlynn said easily. I’d forgotten that she was here. She was tucked in a corner watching. “I’ll take care of the hero if you’ve got the goat.” She said to him.
