Chapter Two

Benton: Thank you. I hope you will enjoy future chapters as well.

James Herriot pulled his car into the alley behind Skeldale house, feeling more exhausted than he had in a long while.

It started with the list of jobs Siegfried had given him for the day. The list had been quite long, but Siegfried had insisted that most of them would only take a few minutes.

Surprisingly, for most part, Siegfried turned out to be completely accurate in that assessment: inoculating a placid sow, giving an injection to a cow as part of an ongoing treatment, and checking on a dog to makes sure she was still doing well after giving birth. James managed to breeze through most of the list quickly and started to think he'd be able to finish early and take Tris up on his previous offer of a quick pint at the Drovers after all.

But then came the last two jobs on the list.

First there was a flock of sheep that was thought to maybe have mastitis. Problem was, Doyle, who owned the sheep, also couldn't be bothered to gather them from the field for examination before James arrived. It meant a lot of walking and sometimes sprinting before James discovered that most of them were simply suffering from pasture bloat.

Then came the calving. Originally, James hadn't been called out to tend to a calving. The cow wasn't due to deliver for another week or two and he was just there to make sure that a leg that had been stitched had healed properly. However, just before he could walk out of the barn, James noticed the tell-tale signs of labor beginning and difficult labor at that.

When James reached inside to begin assisting the calf into the right position for birth, he was dismayed to discover that it was in the hip flexion position, meaning that the head was the wrong way and the back legs weren't even facing outward. James strained to reposition the back legs so he could attach a line and pull the calf out. Not that it was easy with the cow already struggling to push the calf out herself.

It also didn't help that the cow's owner, George Potter, wasn't exactly confident of his veterinary skills.

"Listen here, young man, that cow cost me quite a bit of brass. She's a good milker. Always has been. So you better be sure of what you're doing in there. I'll not have me good cow ruined just because some fancy young veterinary doesn't know when to call in his boss for help."

This tirade continued for the entire time that James worked on the cow. Oddly enough, he was somewhat grateful for the difficulty involved with the job because it made it far easier to ignore Potter and concentrate on the task at hand.

Hours later, James finally succeeded in delivering a healthy calf and had stabilized the mother. For a moment, he did worry that the uterus would prolapse which would mean that he'd have to spend even more hours putting her calf bed back in, but so far, there had been no signs of that happening. After a job like that, James felt a satisfaction which helped to take some of the sting out of the backhanded expressions of gratitude Potter had for him.

"At least you didn't kill her, veterinary, I'll give you that. Though, I suppose this means I should be expecting an even larger bill from you."

It was enough to put James in a less than congenial mood for his entire drive home. The quiet beauty of the fells he passed on the way there did soothe his irritation some. However, his mood did not improve when he got back to Skeldale House and couldn't find Siegfried or Tristan in the surgery or anywhere else nearby.

Just as he was about to go upstairs to look for them, Helen came down to greet him, a smile on her face.

"Hello, darling," she said, immediately giving him a kiss and a hug when she met up with him. After the kiss, she studied his face. "Was it a bad day?"

James gave her a lopsided smile and kissed her back. "Not most of it, no. Just a couple of the usual sort of troublemakers who make life hard for all vets. Nothing I haven't handled before."

"Or that you'll have to handle again," Helen laughed. She gazed into his eyes for another moment before finally letting him go. "I can make you some tea, if you'd like. And Mrs. Hall has some cakes put aside."

"Good, because I'm famished," James said. "By the way, where's Siegfried? Or Tris for that matter. I can't find them anywhere."

"I haven't seen either of them since the first couple of hours of morning surgery myself," Helen said. "I assumed they were out on some jobs."

"If you're looking for Mr. Farnon or Mr. Tristan, don't bother," Mrs Hall said as she appeared in the hallway behind them. "Mr. Farnon was called out to Gibbs' place about a horse and he took Mr. Tristan with him. Said they might not be back 'til late."

"Which means I'm stuck with evening surgery," James sighed. Granted, he was originally supposed to take it on anyway, but he had hoped to persuade Tris to take it in exchange for handling the late call-outs tonight.

"Oh James I know," Helen said. "But at least Siegfried is taking Tris with him to help out on jobs. For a while there, I was starting to wonder if he would ever do that again."

"No, you're right about that," James said. "This probably is a good thing even if it does mean facing another rush of people after the awful calving I just handled."

"I wouldn't worry about that," Helen laughed again while patting his shoulder. "Siegfried ended up canceling morning surgery early today because it was so slow and there hasn't been a soul by since. So how about I make that tea and bring it in to you while you put your feet up?"

"That sounds marvelous," James grinned. "I'll go check on the surgery."

James gave her one more kiss before walking away. He looked in on the waiting room and found it as empty as Helen predicted it would be. He sat down and scribbled some entries into the log book and tossed the fees he had collected into the petty cash box before leaning back in his chair.

After Tristan had failed his exams this last time, James had wondered how long it would take for peace to return to Skeldale. Even after his cunning scheme to put himself in Siegfried's good graces, Tris had only delayed and softened the inevitable hostile confrontation rather than curtail it.

Instead of the expected explosion of fiery temper and harsh words, there had been an unnerving tension around the practice. Siegfried and Tristan barely spoke to each other and would often refuse to acknowledge each other's presence. Both of them made sure to be out whenever the other one had to man the surgery or be available for call-outs. Even talking to one of them in the other one's presence was problematic which made meal times nearly silent, joyless affairs. Eventually, James and Helen made a habit of retreating to their room the moment they finished their meal rather than linger for any longer than necessary.

James leaned back in his chair even more and propped his feet up on a corner of the desk. It had been difficult to live at Skeldale while this was going on and he had been sorely tempted to have a conversation with one or both of them about how this couldn't continue.

Just as he had worked up the nerve to do it, however, a thaw finally appeared in their relations. One morning, Siegfried had expressed concern that Tris looked wan and wasn't getting enough rest. This led to Siegfried making the generous offer of taking his brother's scheduled evening call outs so Tristan could get some additional sleep. This kind gesture was enough to inspire Tristan to resume his efforts to apologize to Siegfried for failing his exams again and to apply himself even more to his swotting.

It was a small start, but it was also a relief to everyone else in the house who could now look forward to things beginning to return to normal.

The fact that Siegfried was taking Tris along for a horse job was another positive sign. That it happened on an afternoon that Tristan had off was even more encouraging as it meant that Siegfried probably did it mainly to give Tristan an opportunity to get some more practical experience and instruction. Which further indicated that Siegfried still had faith that Tris would become qualified at some point.

It also meant that it would be up to Tris at this point to come through with his studies. James was sure that Tristan could succeed if he tried hard enough. He just wasn't as sure how he, Siegfried or anyone else could help Tris get past the stumbling blocks that he kept running into with his finals.

"Here you go," Helen said as she came into the surgery with a cup of tea in one hand and a little plate of cakes in the other. James accepted all of it with a grin.

"Thanks, darling." He took a sip of his tea before setting his things down and pulling Helen over so he could get her to sit in his lap.

Deep down, James knew that he wouldn't give up his busy, chaotic life at Skeldale for anything in the world. Still, it was moments like this that made it easy for him to remember that fact.

Back out in the fields just outside Darrowby, Tristan kept eyeing the dark clouds that were creeping across the sky. Mrs. Hall had said something about how it might rain at breakfast. After spending the last several minutes running and cursing after that blasted horse, the last thing he wanted to think about was getting rained on as well.

Unfortunately, his ruminations also meant that he wasn't watching as closely as he should have been during their latest attempt to corner that horse and get a rope onto it. Specifically, he hadn't noticed the patch of boggy land that Siegfried had been backing into. That is, not until Siegfried ended up flopping down into the swampy mud.

Tristan's entire body vibrated, his lips wobbling, as he tried to hold in his laughter. It wouldn't be good to let out even one chuckle while Siegfried was glaring at him, pulling himself out of the muck. By the time he got out of it, Siegfried's suit was soaked and splashed with mud.

"Tristan…bring that rope over here," Siegfried growled.

Tristan coughed and edged toward Siegfried, making sure to not startle the horse that was only a couple of yards away. Once Siegfried had the rope in his hands, he motioned for Tristan to hold the horse's attention while he approached from the side. Thankfully, this time, the horse cooperated and Siegfried was able to tie the rope around the horse's neck and hand off the lead to Tristan while he knelt down and began examining it.

After that, treatment only took a few minutes. Just long enough to put some plaster on the leg that appeared lame. While Siegfried worked, Tristan pulled out his handkerchief and reached down to brush caking patches of dirt from his brother's clothes.

"There," Siegfried said once he had finished. "That should hold him until he can be taken back to his barn to rest. Now, we just need to find a place to keep him until Kemp can pick him up."

"What about that barn over there?" Tristan asked, pointing off to their left. Siegfried raised his head to look while rising to his feet.

"Excellent idea, Tristan," Siegfried said, giving his brother's arm a quick pat. "Right, let's get him over there before this weather has a chance to become unpleasant."

The two of them trotted over to the abandoned barn, making sure not to go too fast so as to not exacerbate the horse's injury.

As they got closer, however, the barn didn't look like such a promising prospect after all. The roof was patchy with multiple holes along the edges. The walls sagged, the wood having started to warp, and there were cracks large enough for a person to put their arm through. The doors shuddered and swayed in the strong breeze that had picked up. A mournful creaking accompanied their movement.

"I doubt we can safely place that horse in here," Siegfried said with a frown. "It looks like it will fall apart with the first good wind that hits it."

"No, I suppose not," Tristan agreed, sighing. "Well, maybe we can tie him to that bit of fence next to it. That should be good enough for now, shouldn't it?"

Siegfried looked over at the dilapidated fence Tristan had indicated. It wasn't in much better shape than the barn, but at least there was no danger if the fence happened to give out before someone returned for the horse.

"Yes, I suppose it will have to do," Siegfried said. "Come on, help me get him over there and then we'll…."

Suddenly, a loud crack filled the empty silence around them. Tristan couldn't quite make out what it was or where it had come from. A shot from a farmer's rifle? A tree falling somewhere in the distance? Or even a car spluttering on a road parallel to them?

Whatever it had been, it was enough to startle the horse so that it yanked itself away from the grip Siegfried had had on its lead.

"Damn and blast!" Siegfried fumed. "Tristan! Catch it!"

Tristan dashed over and tried to grab the rope before the horse got too far away, but had only managed to snatch it up for a second before it was wrenched from his hands, leaving rope burns on his fingers. Then the horse reared up and galloped into the barn. Tristan gritted his teeth and rushed in after it.

"No, Tristan!" Siegfried shouted at him. "Are you mad? Get out of there!"

Tristan ignored him. He was tired, hungry and irritable and all he wanted to do right now was catch this horse so he could tie it up and they could go home. Then he could spend some time alone. Or, at the very least, he could get away from Siegfried for a while. Thus, he chased that horse down with far more determination than was usual for him.

Inside the barn, the horse pranced back and forth, dodging Tristan's attempts to corner it. However, it wasn't long before it began to tire, the injury it had received eventually slowing it down. As a result, Tristan was able to bide his time until he made a desperate leap toward the lead rope and grab hold of it with both hands.

"I've got it!" he shouted with a triumphant grin. "I've got it, Siegfried."

"Tristan, you maniac!" Siegfried yelled back as he stomped into the barn. "It's not safe in here. Go on, get out of here now!"

Tristan's face fell and he was about to send a withering glare his brother's way when the horse decided on one last effort to get away. It reared up again, knocking its front hooves into one of the supporting pillars a couple of times. Then it kicked one of its hind legs into another pillar with a sharp snap.

Just then, there was a sickening groan in the structure as wood began to snap in several more places all around them.

The sound had startled Tristan which loosened his hold on the rope. This was all the opportunity the horse needed to break free and brush right past Tristan on its way out of the barn. Tristan staggered violently as the sound of breaking boards got even louder.

"Tristan! Look out!"

Tristan didn't even have time to react to his brother's shouts before he was shoved abruptly to the side by Siegfried who had rushed toward him.

Almost immediately after hitting the ground, Tristan watched in horror as the barn fell apart with large beams and shattered shingles crumbling while a roar erupted from within. The walls collapsed inward, bulging and then bursting into pieces.

Tristan gasped and ducked his head down, covering it with his arms. He yelled Siegfried's name, but there was no response as the barn continued to crash down, burying him in a pile of rotten wood and dirty roof tiles.