Chapter 3

A week passed by and with it, the race was another week closer to being run. In town, the race was the only thing that anyone spoke about these days, folks determining who they thought was going to be the winner. Over thirty horses were now entered with most of the entrants being from nearby ranchers and the rest being out-of-towners. Almost all of the town now was invested in the rivalry between the Barkley's and the Morton's and as the day of the race neared, the rivalry grew. Fights had broken out in the saloon between the hands of the two ranchers, both claiming that their bosses would be the ones who won and Jarrod was less than impressed when he had to bail their three hands out of jail and pay Harry for the damages they'd caused in the saloon. The rivalry had grown until it was no longer just between the two families and it was beginning to divide the town, people taking sides with their chosen rider.

Millie on the other hand, no one thought twice about her. Her odds by the town bookie for winning were one hundred to one. No one even considered her to be a contender and that was good enough for her. She was the underdog; no one expected them to even come close to winning. She would show them though, she vowed. She would show them all. She and Tomahawk, they were going to win this race and the fifteen hundred dollar purse despite Nick's fancy thoroughbred racehorse.

She'd seen Nick running Tempest and had timed him. Granted, he was fast, but he fought Nick the whole time and in doing so, wasted valuable energy and wind. In that, Millie would have an advantage. Nick and Tempest had no connection, the horse had no desire to win for its rider which was something that Millie had been masterfully creating in her own mount. With Audra's help, Tomahawk was beginning to crave winning. When they would match race, he would give it his all to catch and overtake the horse in the lead, no matter how far ahead they were. Even with giving Audra a decent head start, the horses she switched in-between never stood a chance anymore. Tomahawk wanted to win; he gave it his all and that was worth more than all the fancy pedigree in the world. Above all, more important than anything else, a good racehorse had to have the desire to win.

As the race neared, Millie continued to condition Tomahawk in preparation for the race just as Hosea had taught her years ago. In addition to the two and a half mile training runs they did, they had begun doing five mile runs also. In this race, endurance would be equally as important as speed and she had been diligent in training him for both. If they wanted to win, they had to be well prepared. That was one thing Hosea had instilled into her.

In the next couple of weeks however, they would all find out who had the fastest horse this year.

And Millie had a feeling that this year, it would be her.

"Easy. Easy girl." Millie soothed, speaking to the young filly in soft tones as she moved her around the corral. The filly was wary of her, still not sure if she could be trusted or not but some small progress was starting to be made with her. Having finished with two of the colts Nick had assigned her already, she'd started work training another young horse. This one, a lovely little buckskin with a lot of potential.

"Millie! Millie!"

At Audra's shout, the filly began to bolt around the pen and Millie sighed. She wouldn't be getting anymore training down with this one now until she'd settled down. "What's wrong?" She questioned, glancing over her shoulder back at Audra.

"It's Firefly. I think something's wrong, she's been restless all morning and I think she's in labor but the foal still won't come. Can you go get Nick?"

"Let me come have a look first. I might be able to help." Timing it carefully, Millie quickly left the center of the circular pen and climbed over the fence, jogging after Audra to the foaling pen. As she entered the small barn, she could hear the grunts of the mare and Audra quickly led her to the stall. Firefly was on her side, visibly distressed and Millie cautiously walked over to her.

"I thought she would have foaled by now, but she hasn't." Audra said, tears in her eyes as she looked at her beloved horse. "She's been restless since before dinner time. She keeps getting up and lying down but I think something's wrong."

Millie nodded, stroking the mare's neck to try and calm her down as she crouched beside her. "I'm going to take a look. Can you go get your mother? We might need help. Bring back hot water and towels too, we're gonna need them. I don't think there's time to go for Nick or anyone else. I'm going to guess that this foal is stuck."

Audra quickly left and Millie began to check the mare over. She was obviously having contractions but labor wasn't progressing. She was covered in sweat and when Millie checked her gum color, it wasn't good. The mare was exhausting herself from straining. If the foal was stuck, they had to get it out. Now.

A short time later Audra returned with her mother in tow, Millie motioning for her to come in and stay beside the mare. "Keep her calm Audra, talk to her." She instructed as she rolled up her sleeves and washed her arms and hands in the hot water Victoria had brought with her. "I know you're worried about her but try to stay calm. Firefly is picking up that you're anxious and it's stressing her more."

She nodded and carefully knelt down beside the mare, stroking her softly as she spoke to her in gentle tones.

Wiping her arms on the clean towels, Millie returned to the mare. "Alright, keep her calm Audra. I'm going to see what's going on here." She crouched down at Firefly's hindquarters. So far, no bag was presenting but judging from the mare's semi-wet tail, her waters had broken some time ago. Moving her tail aside, she waited for the mare's next contraction to pass before she carefully went to feel inside her for the foal. "Keep her calm Audra, keep talking to her. That's it."

"What can I do, Millie?" Victoria questioned as she placed the basin of hot water and the towels down nearby. "How can I help?"

"Just give me a minute…" She was up to her elbow inside the mare, trying to feel how the foal was positioned. "The foal's leg is stuck, that's why it's not coming out. I'm going to try and reposition it." Closing her eyes, she relied on her fingers to tell her what she needed to know. The leg she was feeling was a foreleg. That was good at least. It was bent though, preventing the foal from moving along the birth canal. As Firefly had another contraction, Millie waited until it had passed before carefully moving the leg so it was presented right.

With the leg right, she looked up at Audra. "How's she doing?"

"Not good." Audra's voice broke. She could see the mare was weakening, her strength spent. "I think we're losing her."

"Not on my watch, we ain't. I've almost got this foal where it needs to be." Millie turned to Victoria. "Get ready with the towels, we'll have to dry the foal off once it's out. The mare won't be up to cleaning it."

Victoria nodded and brought over the towels, crouching down beside her.

Closing her eyes again, Millie felt around to figure out the foal's placement. Another foreleg, this one positioned correctly and a moment later she found the foal's head. The foal was in the right position to be delivered. "She should be able to deliver it now." Carefully she withdrew her arm and took the towel Victoria passed to her to clean herself up. "Come on Firefly, you can do it girl. Just a couple more pushes then it'll be out."

Groaning as another contraction rippled through her, the mare began to push with what little strength she had left. "That's a girl." Audra encouraged, still at the mare's head and stroking her neck. "Come on. You can do it. You can do it darling."

Another contraction and the bag started to show. "A couple more. Come on Firefly. We're almost there." Millie was waiting for the foal's forelegs to show for as soon as they did, she would pull the foal to help the mare. Firefly was almost spent. If they didn't get this foal out and now, they'd lose it. Perhaps it was already too late for the foal but even if it was, there was still a chance they could save the mare.

Victoria waited along with them, wondering where Millie had learnt about foaling. She'd helped out with a difficult foaling a few times but not enough to be confident in being able to reposition a foal. That was Nick's area of expertise. Looking over at her daughter, she turned back to Millie. "What's their chances?" She whispered her question so Audra wouldn't be able to hear. "The mare doesn't look good."

"I know. This foal needs to get out. The next contraction should do it. We'll get the foal out then worry about the mare." Millie whispered back. "Firefly is weak, I don't know if she's damaged internally from pushing while the foal was stuck. If she is then there's not much we can do but I'll do my best to save them both. I know how much this mare means to her."

Firefly groaned again and the foal's hooves appeared, Millie springing into action. Quickly she stood and got into position to pull the foal then tearing the bag with her fingers she quickly wrapped her hands around the foal's fetlocks. "One more Firefly. One more." As the mare pushed once more, Millie pulled with all the strength she had and the foal came out in one smooth motion. "It's out."

The foal was out, but Firefly lay still on her side, utterly spent.

"Towels." Victoria handed them to her and the two of them began wiping the foal down. It only took Millie a moment to realize the foal wasn't breathing and she motioned for Victoria to stop.

"Is the foal alright?" Audra questioned, looking over at them. "Is it alright?"

"It's not breathing." Millie felt for a pulse, finding one after a moment but it was weak. "Give me some room please, I'm going to need space." She requested and as Victoria retreated, she took hold of both of the foal's hind fetlocks and began to swing the foal head down around in a circle. Come on. Come on little one. As she swung it around for the third time, the foal let out a cough and she quickly stopped swinging it, lying it down gently. Opening its mouth she scooped out the mucus trapped inside and with its airway finally cleared, the foal began to breathe steadily. "Alright, it's breathing. We've got it breathing now. Victoria-" She motioned for her to come back. "Can you dry her off? I need to rest for a moment."

Kneeling down beside the foal, Victoria began to rub it dry with the towels. The foal was still lying on its side, not moving, but breathing steadily.

Millie sat in the straw, catching her breath. She'd never done the maneuver with the foal before, she'd only seen Hosea do it and had never expected a foal to be so heavy. She'd done it though and the foal was breathing now.

"What now?" Audra questioned, still stroking her mare. "What do we do now?"

"Firstly, we've got to get some colostrum into this foal." Having caught her breath, Millie joined Victoria in drying off the foal. "Would you mind finding a bottle please Victoria? With both of them as weak as they are, we'll need to bottle feed the foal it's first meal. I'll need an old leather glove, scissors and some leather strapping too."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do."

Victoria left and Millie began checking the foal over as she worked. The foal had a lovely dun coloured coat with a dorsal stripe running down its back. Its breathing was strong and steady but it appeared still too weak yet to move. Continuing to dry it off, she checked beneath its tail to reveal the foal's gender. "You've got a lovely little filly here Audra."

Fighting back tears, Audra nodded. "Are… Are they going to be alright?"

"I don't know Audra." She replied honestly. "I'm going to do my best though. Once we've got some milk into this little one, I'll come check Firefly over. We've just got to get some milk into this foal first if it's going to have a chance."

"What are their chances?"

"If we can get the foal to drink and stand soon after, the foal's chances should be good. I honestly don't know about the mare though, I'm sorry. She's exhausted herself straining and if she's injured internally, there's nothing we can do. But we're gonna try, we're gonna try and save her too. Alright?"

Audra nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Thank you. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here. I should have gone for Nick earlier but I didn't want to leave her. I thought… I thought she'd be alright."

"It's not your fault Audra. These things happen. Foaling can be difficult at times. It's just the way it is, nothing we can do will change that."

Victoria returned, carrying the items Millie had requested. "How's this?"

"Perfect. I'll take the bottle, place everything else aside for now." Moving around the mare, she began to express milk into the bottle. "Actually, sorry to be a trouble but could you go back inside and grab a little honey too? We'll add that into the milk. It'll help strengthen the foal." She left again and Millie kept milking the mare until the bottle was almost full. When Victoria returned she added in a tablespoon of honey into the milk then cutting off a finger from the glove, pulled the end over the bottle to create a makeshift teat. After tying it securely she shook it thoroughly to mix the honey in with the milk then cut a little hole in the top. "Audra, can we have your help please? I'll need you both to hold the foal up on its stomach so it can drink."

Giving her mare one last pat, Audra came to join them with the foal. Crouching down opposite her mother, between the two of them, they got the foal into a sitting position. "Come on little one, drink." She encouraged as Millie offered the foal the teat, the filly not really interested in what was being offered. "You've got to drink. Please."

"Just give her a moment. She'll figure it out." Millie replied softly, squeezing a little milk onto her hand to offer the foal a sniff. The filly sniffed at it then nibbled at her with her tiny lips. Offering the foal the bottle again, the foal finally took hold of the teat and began to drink.

Audra began to tear up with relief. "That's a girl."

Victoria smiled, watching as the filly eagerly worked on drinking the entire bottle. "Millie, I've grown up around horses, I've been around them my entire life but I've never seen what you've done before. Where did you learn this?"

"My folks raised horses ma'am. I grew up helping with them. I was eight when I helped pull my first foal." The filly was eagerly guzzling the milk now and she had to hold onto the bottle tightly so the foal didn't pull it out of her hands. "We used to have close to fifty broodmares in foal at a time when I was young. We couldn't afford to hire hands, I was the only help they had." The foal had almost finished its bottle and Millie tipped it up so it could get the last of the milk. With the milk gone, she gently slid her thumb into the side of the filly's mouth to open it and get her to let go of the teat. "Well, this one is fed now. Let's move her up to Firefly so she can smell her then I'll look the mare over."

Between the three of them, they moved the foal up to Firefly's head, the mare still lying on her side. Even with the foal beside her, she didn't seem to notice it, her sides heaving as she breathed heavily. Lifting her upper lip to check her gum color, Millie was worried at what she saw. Her gums were extremely pale and when she pressed her finger on them, it took way longer than it should have for color to return. Rising, she did a pinch test on the mare's neck and it was clear she was dehydrated. "When's the last time she's drunk or eaten?"

"I don't know." Audra was standing back with her mother watching Millie work. "Maybe last night? She hasn't touched her feed this morning."

Nodding, Millie rose. "I'm going to make her a mash and some sweet-water. Keep an eye on them, the foal should start trying to stand soon. When I get back, if Firefly isn't standing, we'll need to lift her up and prop her up with some hay bales."

"Should I go get Nick and Heath?" Victoria asked.

"No, it's alright, there's no sense in us interrupting the round-up now. We can manage. We've gotten them through the worst of it, we just need to get some nourishment into the mare and get her standing again soon. Just keep an eye on them. I'll be right back."

With that, Millie left and Victoria placed her arm around Audra. "Firefly will be alright. Millie knows what she's doing."

"I hope so…" Audra replied softly. "I can't lose her too. I should have gone for Nick earlier, maybe if I had she wouldn't be like this."

"You can't blame yourself Audra, you did what you thought was best at the time. The main thing now is we help her get better."

Audra nodded. "I suppose you're right."

Victoria smiled a little, rubbing her daughter's arm. "I usually am."

At that, Audra chuckled a little and the two returned to watching the mare and foal.

Millie soon returned, carrying two buckets with her. "Has Firefly tried getting up yet?"

"No. The filly has been though." Audra replied. "She hasn't quite got the hang of it yet."

"Good, good. That's great. Let's just move her back a little to give Firefly space so she doesn't fall on her." Placing the buckets down they gently moved the foal over and while the filly struggled to figure out how to get her long legs to work, Millie carried in a few hay bales. "Audra, I'll get you to help me. Victoria, when we've got Firefly sitting up, can you please push these hay bales in against her?"

Victoria nodded and the three of them got in position. "Alright, easy girl. Easy." Millie and Audra worked together, pushing the mare up onto her stomach. It wasn't easy but Firefly cooperated a little and once she was sitting up, Victoria quickly got the bales in against her. "Good, that's good." Millie took a moment to catch her breath, turning to Audra. "In the wooden bucket, there's some mash. You can bring that over and see if you can encourage her to eat some."

As Audra went to grab the bucket, Millie took a seat on a spare hay bale, Victoria joining her.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just tired and sore. Swinging a foal around isn't easy work."

She chuckled a little. "I can imagine. I've never seen anyone do that before."

"We used to use it all the time, mainly for calves but foals too. It was the best thing we found to get their airway clear and them breathing." Millie replied, watching as Audra offered the mare a handful of the mash. Firefly sniffed at it from a moment before beginning to nibble gingerly at it. "That's great Audra. Give her a few handfuls then see if she'll drink some water."

"Alright."

"What's in the mash?" Victoria wondered.

"Bran mash, oats, honey, molasses, salt, raw eggs. The sugar will help her get her strength back." A little smile spread across her face as Firefly ate another handful of the mash with a little encouragement from Audra. The fact that she was eating was very good. "The water is warmed up too, with honey and molasses to help encourage her to drink. It's got salt added too. Firefly's dehydrated, she needs to get fluids into her for the foal and the last thing we need is for her to end up colicing because she's dehydrated."

"Should I give her some water now?"

"Offer her some, hopefully she'll drink."

Standing, Audra went over and collected the steel bucket with the water. Firefly looked at it curiously as she brought it over to her and when it was sat down in front of her, the mare sniffed at it for a moment before eagerly beginning to drink. "That's my girl. That's a girl." Audra said with relief as the mare drank. "Do you think she'll be alright now?" She questioned Millie, the mare drinking a quarter of the bucket before she withdrew again.

"I'm hoping so but it's still a little early to tell. It's good she's eating and drinking but the longer she stays down, that's not so great. She needs to get up and standing, soon." Millie replied as Firefly took another long drink. "All we can do now is wait."

It was late when Nick came into the foaling barn, his mother having told him what had happened when he and Heath had finally gotten in from the roundup. Audra's mare had been having difficulty with her foal and Millie had ended up saving both of them with her knowledge and quick thinking. The more he found out about her, the more he respected her. Being able to reposition and pull a foal was no easy feat in the slightest and again he was left wondering just where she'd learnt what she knew.

Coming over to the stall where Audra's mare was stabled he saw Firefly was still down, propped up against the hay bales but the foal was standing, the filly looking up curiously at him. She was a strong looking foal all things considered and he was grateful for that. If Firefly didn't make it, at least Audra would still have the foal. Behind them, on a hay bale, Millie lay fast asleep. Poor kid must be exhausted. He thought as he smiled a little. Sounds like it was quite a day for her.

Quietly he opened the stall door and walked in, crouching down next to her. "Strange place to be sleepin'."

At his voice, Millie woke up with a start. "Oh… Nick."

"Heard you've had a day."

"Yeah… Yeah, you could say that." She replied as she sat up again, Nick sitting down on the hay bale beside her. "I sent Audra to bed a couple hours ago. She's worried about her." She motioned to the mare. "I'm not sure if she's gonna make it."

"Firefly was given to her by Father."

"I know, she told me."

"Foal looks strong though."

Millie nodded. "While Firefly's down, she can't nurse. I've been milking her every hour and bottle feeding the foal. In case Firefly doesn't make it, is there any chance we can find a nurse mare for the filly? Bottle feeding a foal is hard work and we could do it but if we can find a mare…"

"If we need to, we'll figure somethin' out." Nick replied, the girl flinching a little when he put his arm around her but she didn't pull away. "You did good today Millie."

She smiled a little though her heart swelled with pride. Nick wasn't known to give out compliments and when he did, you knew you had earned it. "I just hope it's enough."

"You did your best, that's what matters."

"I know." Millie yawned softly as she checked the time on a watch she'd borrowed from Audra. "Almost time to milk Firefly and give the filly another feed."

"I'll take care of it." He assured her, patting her shoulder. "You go into the house and get some sleep."

"You sure? I don't mind."

"I've spent many a night with a foalin' mare, I can manage bottle feedin' a foal."

Bed did sound exceptionally good… "Alright." She rose stiffly, her muscles aching from the way she had been lying. "I'll see you in the morning then."

"Night Millie."

The young woman left and Nick picked up the things he needed to bottle feed the foal from where Millie had left them beside the bale. Firefly turned to look at him as he crouched down beside her and he gave her a pat on the shoulder before he began milking her. "You're alright girl. You're alright." After a moment, the mare turned her attention to the bucket in front of her once more, nibbling away at what was left of her feed. With the bottle full he slipped the makeshift teat on again and securing it, turned to feed the foal.

The foal, seeing him approaching, snorted as it tossed its head and backed away from him. "Hey, lil one." Nick spoke softly as he crouched down in front of the foal, holding the bottle out towards it. "Come on. It's alright. I won't hurt you."

The filly, upon smelling the milk, rushed towards him and eagerly began to drink. Nick smiled, gently stroking the front of the foal's chest with one hand as he held onto the bottle with the other. She was a fine foal, a very fine foal. "That's it. That's it lil one." He encouraged as she worked on finishing off the bottle. "That's good, hey?"

"That filly sure has an appetite." Heath exclaimed as he rested with his arms atop the stall door, having entered the barn while Nick was feeding the foal. "Met Millie on the way, she said you're on foal duty. Thought you might need the company."

"Well now, I'm not complainin' if you wanna share feedin' duties."

With a smile, Heath entered the stall as the filly finished off the bottle and began curiously investigating Nick's hat. "Think she's smitten' with you."

"I just seem to have that effect on the ladies."

Heath laughed. "Do you now?"

"Yep. I'm irresistible to women."

He just shook his head with amusement as the filly took hold of his hat and made off with it.

"Give that back." Nick grumbled good naturedly, cornering the foal. Grabbing hold of his hat, the filly fought him for a moment before letting it go and he returned it to its rightful place on top of his head.

"How's the mare?" Heath questioned as Nick cleaned out the bottle in preparation for the next feeding.

"Not the worst I've seen, not the best either. It's not great she's not back on her feet yet."

He was quiet as Nick worked, watching the mare. "Audra's going to take it hard if she loses her."

"I know." Nick replied softly. "If she's not up by mornin' though, I don't hold much hope for her."

As Millie quietly slipped out of her room the next morning, she met Audra coming out of her room also. "Nick sent me to bed last night, he and Heath were going to look after Firefly and the foal."

Audra nodded. "Let's hope that she's doing better this morning."

I hope so too. Millie added but didn't voice her opinion.

"I didn't get a chance to thank you for everything you did yesterday." She continued as they made their way downstairs. "I don't know what I'd have done without your help."

The younger girl smiled a little. "It's alright, I'm just glad that we were able to save the foal. I know how hard it is when you have a connection with a horse and to lose them well… It's difficult. There was one mare I really liked growing up." They headed outside, making their way across the ranch yard to the foaling barn. "Her name was Willow. She was the sweetest little thing, only fourteen hands but she had great cow sense. I learnt to ride on her after I got too big for my pony. The last foal she had, it ended up getting stuck. By the time we realized, it was too late. For both her, and the foal. I cried about it for days."

"That's awful Millie."

"Yeah. It was. After she died, I didn't have a bond like ours with another horse until Tomahawk. She was a real special little horse." Millie chuckled a little bit, realizing that the filly she had helped deliver the day before was the same color as her own horse. "Funny thing though, she was also a dun just like your filly."

"Really? Well that's a coincidence."

"Sure is." Coming to the barn, Millie quietly opened the door and they walked in, closing it again. As they came to Firefly's stall, a feeling of relief washed over her as she saw the mare standing.

"Oh, Firefly." Audra whispered. "You're up."

"And the foal is drinking too." Millie added, the little filly's tail swishing back and forth as she drank from her mother. Looking around for Nick and Heath, she elbowed Audra with a chuckle and motioned to them. Nick and Heath were both asleep on the other side of the stall. "Looks like they fell asleep on the job."

"Those brothers of mine." She exclaimed with a soft chuckle, not wishing to wake them. "Well, we'd better let them sleep. They were up for most of the night." Audra turned her attention back to the mare and foal. "Will Firefly be alright now?"

"Well, she's up-" She could see that her feed bucket was empty again and her water bucket was only half full. "she's eating and drinking… I'd say, I think she'll be alright."

Audra beamed.

"Have you thought of a name for the filly?" Millie questioned after a moment. "She should probably have a name now."

"Willow." She replied without hesitation, turning back to Millie. "We'll call her Willow.