Clouds and Rain

ask for permission. He opened the stable door and entered, crouching down next to Bill to use his own cloth to grab one of the legs.
    “We‟ll need to change the angle a bit. Mind if you pull while I feel around for what‟s keeping this thing stuck?” Bill asked.
    Flynn simply nodded and kept the tension on the foal‟s hind legs while Bill adjusted his angle and felt around inside the mare. Suddenly, something seemed to give way and Flynn fell back into the straw as the tension eased. The mare whinnied and the foal became partially dislodged. Bill waited for a moment to see if the rest of the birth would happen naturally, but eventually helped it along a bit until the foal was all the way out, before pulling away the rest of the birthing sac.
    Neither horse moved and everyone seemed to hold their breath.
    Flynn bunched up some straw and started gently rubbing it over the wet foal.
    “Easy, be gentle,” Bill cautioned in a much softer voice than before. “Give them time.” He stepped back and stood there watching the new mother and her completely still foal intently before leaning on the half door.
    “It‟s a big boy,” Bill told Gable.
    “Come on, boy, breathe,” Flynn said in a soothing voice. “Show us what you‟re made of.”
    After a few tense minutes, the foal suddenly shivered and then raised its head.

    179

    Zahra Owens

    “Fucking hell!” Hunter called out. “I thought he was never going to catch that first breath.”
    Grant was smiling too now, and Flynn couldn‟t help but move a little closer to Gable as the mare got up and the afterbirth slipped out of her. All of them knew they had to give the mare some space to bond with her foal.
    “One down, one to go,” Flynn told Gable. “The other one‟s showing no signs, though, so it may take as long as a few more weeks.” Gable pulled Flynn into a hug across the low stable door and kissed him on the forehead. “We‟re not paying the vet anyway,” he said with a chuckle.
    “Don‟t remind me,” Bill intervened. “Calley,” he called out as he exited the stable. “Get me some coffee.”
    “You‟re standing right next to it,” Grant pointed out. Those were the first words he‟d said all evening.
    Bill shot him a mean look. “When you find yourself a wife, maybe you‟ll understand what it means to be well taken care of.” A smile broke on Bill‟s face when his gaze turned to Hunter. Flynn could tell Bill was dying to say something else bordering on caustic, but he was happy when Bill held his tongue.
    “Let‟s just all get a cup, hey?” Flynn cut in.
    When Grant spoke again, Flynn knew things were getting out of hand. “That‟s no way to speak about Calley, Bill. She doesn‟t deserve to be ordered around.”
    Before any of the other men could react, Bill planted his fist in the much taller and broader horse wrangler‟s face. Grant wavered but didn‟t fall and was caught by Hunter, then quickly regained his footing and repaid the favor.
    It took a stern and surprisingly strong “STOP IT!” from Calley to halt the men in their tracks. “That‟s it,” she concluded. “Are you done?
    Then stick your peckers back into your pants and back off.” After which she briskly walked out, shortly followed by Bill, who was rubbing his sore jaw.

    180

    Clouds and Rain

    “What was that all about?” Flynn asked Gable, but Gable simply dismissed him with a curt shake of his head, making sure Flynn understood he wasn‟t going to tell him anything right then.
    Grant was sitting on one of the bales of hay, swatting Hunter‟s hand away as Hunter checked that Grant‟s split lip was just that and nothing else was hurt.
    Gable walked over to them. “Pretty tense evening.” Hunter straightened his back as if he‟d been caught doing something he shouldn‟t and faced Gable. “Yeah, it was. Listen, we better go. Thanks for calling and we‟ll be around to visit from time to time, if that‟s okay with you. And of course, it would be mighty nice if you called again for the second mare.” He gazed into the other box and his face lit up. “I think you won‟t need to call us again!” Instantly they all hit the stable door, scrambling for the best view.
    “Shall I get Bill back?” Gable asked slowly, as if he was watching a car wreck in slow motion.
    “No,” Hunter answered. “Girl‟s doing fine.” The mare was making pretty much the same noises as the first one, but she was more restless and kept looking up. This one had