Chapter Six:

Several hours later, Katy had made little progress. It was certain now that she was in labor, but from the little that Jimmy knew about birthing foals, she didn't seem to be making progress like she should. Jimmy was starting to worry, and he could see that Lou was becoming panicked.

Katy was pacing her stall, tossing her head violently, and her breathing was labored.

"This is taking too long, Jimmy, and it's too soon. We have to do somethin'!"

"I'm no horse doctor, Lou! I haven't got the slightest clue how to help her. I'm sorry."

She grabbed onto his shoulders, her fingers digging into his skin, and looked fully into his eyes for the first time in a long time. Her desperation was laid bare when he returned her gaze. "You don't understand. I can't lose her! Not now." Lou's voice was rising to a frantic pitch. "She's all I have left that was his!"

The realization dawned on him like a dousing of icy water. Of course this wasn't just about Katy. Lou cared for the horse, no doubt. But this was really about Kid. About her ability to hold onto the one thing that had ever truly been his. Kid's love and devotion to Katy was as much a part of him as anything, had defined who he was and how intensely he loved from the moment any of them had known him.

"I've lost too much of him already. Sometimes, I struggle to picture his face or hear his voice. He's slipping away from me, Jimmy. She's all that's left. I can't lose her, too. I can't…"

By the time she finished, her voice was little more than a whisper. It was like all of the fight had drained out of her, and this worried Jimmy more than when she had been frantic.

He knew this was up to him now. He'd failed her in every way imaginable in the past. This somehow felt like a chance at redemption. And perhaps a chance to earn back her trust, if he even deserved such an opportunity.

It was now or never, he decided, and entered Katy's stall with purpose. She eyed him warily, with her ears laid back against her head. He approached her cautiously, not wanting to spook the already distressed animal.

As he lifted her tail, he saw what were unmistakably two rear feet slightly protruding from the birth canal. "Well, damn," he muttered to himself. He knew enough to know that wasn't a good sign. Katy needed their help, and fast.

"Lou! You're going to have to get in here and help me now, you understand me? No more of this worryin'. Come hold Katy's head and keep her as calm as possible. Talk to her real nice and gentle. Can you do that for me?" He spoke to Lou almost as if she were a child, hoping to snap her out of her distressed state and back to acting more like herself.

Lou nodded as if she were in a haze, but she did as Jimmy requested. Soon, he heard her murmuring reassuringly to the horse, and Katy had become noticeably less agitated. Knowing what he was about to do, he doubted the calm would last, but he would take whatever he could get at the moment.

When Katy was still, Jimmy grabbed the foal's two rear feet and began to gently pull, trying to find the balance between enough pressure to help Katy without causing injury to either her or the foal. He had no idea if he was getting it right, but he hoped to God he was.

Katy tossed her head again, whinnied loudly, and kicked out with her back hoof, narrowly missing Jimmy's shin.

"That was a close call, girl. I'd prefer to keep my leg intact, if you don't mind," he chided her softly.

Ever so slowly, the foal began to come forward in response to Jimmy's pressure. He could still hear Lou talking quietly to Katy. If he was hearing correctly, she seemed to be telling Katy the story of a boy who had once fallen so instantly and madly in love with a horse that he'd willingly endured a terrible beating just to make her his. Hearing her speak this way about Kid, with such unguarded affection, threatened to be his undoing, and before he knew it, tears were streaming unbidden down his face.

Redoubling his efforts, he concentrated wholly on the task before him. He would save Katy and this foal if it was the last thing he did. He would do it for Lou, and he would do it for Kid, who he had loved as a brother.

Jimmy kept pulling, and the foal continued struggling to make its appearance in the world. Jimmy called out to Lou yet again. "Hold her tight now. This is gonna be a rough one."

Lou hugged Katy tightly around the neck, and Jimmy pulled on the foal's legs with increased pressure. It needed to be born soon, or it would suffocate.

"Here come the shoulders, girl! We're almost there!" Jimmy wasn't entirely sure which girl he was calling to, but it hardly seemed to matter in the moment.

The foal's movement stopped abruptly, and for a fraction of a second, he thought all hope was lost. But Katy gave one last push of her own, and the foal dropped unceremoniously into the hay below.

Jimmy found himself laughing with relief. "You did it, old girl," he chuckled as he patted Katy's rump affectionately. He then immediately set to the task of cleaning out the foal's nostrils and wiping it down with some fresh hay. Lou just stood transfixed in place at Katy's head, seemingly overcome with shock.

Katy stepped away from Lou, approached her new foal, and started to lick it clean. For its part, the tiny creature began to stir and try valiantly to stand.

"It's a little filly, Lou!" Jimmy called out, snapping Lou out of her daze.

"A filly," she replied in wonder and made her way to Jimmy's side.

They stood together in silence for a moment, but it wasn't the oppressive silence that was usually between them. This was something altogether different. They watched the filly as she struggled to stand, Katy trying to help her balance. She took several good tumbles back into the hay, but on her third try she miraculously remained upright on her spindly, uncertain legs.

Jimmy suddenly realized that he and Lou were both laughing, and before he could process what was happening, Lou had thrown her arms around his bare shoulders and embraced him. She was laughing with delight as tears ran down her cheeks.

"Thank you, Jimmy. I don't know how, but you did it. You saved them both. All three of us, really."

Jimmy said the only thing that came to his mind in the moment. "You're welcome, Lou."

They stood and watched the new mother with her filly for quite some time, arms around one another. And when they could no longer stand, they sank to the floor of the stall and sat together in the hay. Lou rested her head on Jimmy's chest, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. Soon, he felt the tension release from her body, and he knew that she had fallen asleep.

He had spent too much time breaking skittish horses to get his hopes up, but it was the only time since he had come to the waystation that she had willingly let him touch her. He allowed himself to drift off to sleep with some hope in his heart for the first time since he had found her again.