Page 231 of The Moon Sister
‘Come on, darling,’ I whispered, ‘you need to drink, get strong for your mum and dad.’
After a number of further attempts, to our collective relief, he opened his mouth and finally began to suckle.
‘He thinks you’re his mum, Tig.’ Cal smiled, as the calf finished the bottle and began to nudge my hand for more. ‘The question is, what are we going tae do with our orphan now? You for one can’t spend the night in here. I’ll no’ be responsible for you suffering further illness, but no one can get wind o’ his birth, or his sweet little head’ll be on a plinth before you can say “venison”!’
‘You could take him up tae mine,’ Lochie suggested. ‘My mum would be happy tae have a new pet, especially one as special as he is.’
Cal and I looked at each other, seeing the dawning light of a possible solution.
‘Are you sure, Lochie?’ I asked him. ‘I mean, I’d be up every day, but it’s a full-time job, hand-rearing a young calf.’
‘I’ll help too,’ Zara butted in.
‘’T’would be nae bother, Tiggy,’ Lochie reassured me. ‘Between us all, I’m sure we can care for him. Our croft is out o’ the way o’ prying eyes, so he’d be safe with us.’
‘It’s the right thing tae do, Tig,’ Cal said. ‘This time we’re no’ taking any chances. Now, why don’t we carry the young ’un to Beryl, and Lochie can drive you up to the croft? The sooner we get him out o’ here, the better.’
I stood up and carried the calf – its long skinny legs hanging over the cradle I’d made with my arms – to the car. As Cal helped me up into the passenger seat and Zara climbed into the back, Lochie got behind the wheel.
‘I’ll stay here and see tae his mum,’ Cal said.
‘Please don’t skin and blood her,’ I begged him.
‘Course I won’t, Tig. I’ll bury her over in the forest by the Lodge and mark it wi’ a couple o’ twigs.’
‘Thanks.’
I held tightly to my precious cargo as we set off along the bumpy track. At the entrance to the estate, we turned left towards the chapel and continued for another few kilometres up onto the fells. Eventually, a low grey stone farmhouse came into view, smoke billowing from its chimney, the surrounding land full of woolly white dots, still visible in the encroaching dusk.
‘It’ll be lambing time soon,’ Lochie commented as he brought Beryl to a halt, then walked round to open the passenger door to help me and the calf out. I stood there for a few seconds with my precious cargo and looked up to see the pale sliver of a new moon welcoming the newborn to the world. Then Zara and I followed Lochie into a low-ceilinged kitchen.
Fiona was standing at the range, stirring a large saucepan of soup.
‘Hello Tiggy, Zara.’ She greeted us with a smile. ‘What a surprise! How lovely to see you both! And what have you got there?’ She came over for a closer look.
‘He’s something very special, Mum, and you and Dad have to swear yae won’t say a word to anyone,’ Lochie said.
‘As if you have to ask.’ Fiona raised an eyebrow at her son as she looked down at the calf. ‘Oh my goodness, Tiggy, is he really what I think he is?’
‘Yes. Here, take him for a cuddle.’
‘I’d love to,’ Fiona said, obviously overwhelmed. I handed the gangly bundle over carefully, and stood back to watch how the calf would react to a new pair of arms. Yet, as Fiona embraced him, and whispered endearments to him softly, he hardly stirred. I breathed a sigh of relief as every instinct told me that Fiona was the perfect stand-in mother and the croft itself the perfect hiding place.
‘Lochie, take that pot off the heat and put the kettle on,’ Fiona directed her son, as she beckoned me and Zara to the well-worn kitchen table and indicated I should sit down next to her. ‘I presume his mother is dead?’
‘Sadly, yes. It was natural causes, though.’
‘Lochie told me you got shot when you were trying to save the white stag from a poacher.’
‘Yes.’
‘Is this . . . ? I mean, it must be the dead stag’s son – the leucistic gene is usually inherited.’
‘I think we have to assume so, yes. Cal says he was born this morning. I’ve managed to feed him a bottle, but he’s obviously still weak.’
‘But he seems very alert, which is a good sign. I’ll check him over, if you don’t mind.’
‘I’d love you to. He wasn’t alert when I first saw him,’ I said as Fiona retrieved her medical bag from the floor by the back door and took out her stethoscope.
