The Stars in the Sky

Chapter 34: Happy

Later that day, the kids were done with riding and were taking a break in the bunkhouse. I wandered back over to the barn and walked in to visit Happy. When I got to his stall, I noticed him pawing at the ground. He was agitated and there was sweat coming off of him and it wasn't that hot of a day. This was not my sweet, docile horse. Something was bothering him. I walked outside and called over to Will, who next to the corral.

"Can you come here? Is there something wrong with Happy?"

Will came jogging inside, shot into the stall, and put his ear to the horse's belly, while Happy moved in distress and pawed the ground. He took a step back and looked at Happy, then felt under his jaw.

"Fuck."

He ran outside and called to the wranglers, who were still in the corral with the other horses. "Jimmy! Call Sully now."

Jimmy nodded and started punching numbers into his cell phone, running toward the barn.

"What's going on, Will?"

"Think he's colicking. We're in for a long ride. We gotta act now, though."

"What does that mean?"

"There are no sounds in his gut. Means it's probably not working. His pulse rate is high. Has he been eating?" he asked Jimmy, who had come inside.

"I didn't really notice, but it hasn't been as much as usual."

"Fuck, shit, damn," growled Will.

"His hay was untouched the other day and his stall was clean," I said.

"Oh no," whispered Janine, coming over. "Why didn't we notice?"

Jimmy explained, to me, "With animals, it's like having a baby. They can't tell you what's wrong, they can only show you that they are in distress." He paused, talking into the phone, "Dr. Sullivan, please, it's an emergency." He continued, looking at me, "There are a couple of different types of colic. If it's the impaction type, well, that means something is stuck in his system and we can flush him out with oil or water. But if it's the twisted type." He paused. "Hope it's not." Then he started speaking into the cell phone. "Sully? It's Jimmy at Headlands. I think we have a colicking horse." He walked over to the side of the barn.

"What does that mean, the twisted type?" I asked Will.

"Well, sometimes a horse can't recover from the twisted type of colic. Or it's a really expensive surgery and we don't have the budget for it. And if we can't do the surgery, it means euthanizing the horse."

Oh no. Happy. No.

I felt like my world was crushing in on me. No animal could get hurt on my watch. Never.

"Should we give him some Banamine?" asked Janine.

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's a muscle relaxer," said Will. "It's just a Bandaid, it doesn't fix the problem. It would mask the symptoms for a bit but then they might come back. Still, it might make him feel better. What did Sully say?" he asked Jimmy.

"He's on his way."

"This is gonna be a long couple of days," muttered Will.

Stephanie came in the barn. "Will, there's some woman from Hamilton Development here to see you."

"Just what I need," he spat, and stalked out.

"What can I do?" I asked Janine.

"Sit and wait. It's like being in the emergency room waiting room. We need to see what the vet tells us to do."