Wild and Unruly

Chapter 5

Louis stiffened, his eyes wide, hands jittery with adrenaline. "I'll do anything you tell me," he said. "Anything." He felt his chest swell with fear and an almost painful desire to do well, to be helpful, as he gazed at Harry through the dark, slanting rain.

Harry nodded and unclipped the walkie-talkie from his belt, bringing it out from under his slicker. It crackled to life in his hands. "Niall!" he growled. "Get on." He chewed his bottom lip while he waited, intense stare focused on the speaker as if, with enough concentration and sheer will, he could force Niall to answer him. "Niall," he said again. "Niall..."

Louis retraced his steps, glancing back at Harry every so often as he swept the beam of his Maglite over the grass. He found the place where he'd dropped the vet kit and picked it up. Niall's flat voice was just coming in when he returned. "Kinda got our hands full down here -- the heifers are..." He cut out for a moment. Louis and Harry glanced at each other in panic. "Ya find Jolene?"

Harry let out a breath -- a short, wary burst of relief. "Yeah," he said. "She was down by the crick. But Niall --" There was an eruption of static, and Louis winced. "She's calving. Drop what you're doing and call the vet and get up here. Her contractions are..." Then there was an odd, high pitched whine, and the walkie-talkie died in Harry's hand. Louis felt his heart sink as he stared at it.

Harry swore fervently. He fiddled with it for a few moments, scratching open the back casing to roll the batteries, but it was no use.

"Maybe he heard you," Louis said. "He -- he might have heard you!"

Tears were pricking his eyes as he watched Harry calmly tuck the useless walkie-talkie back under his slicker. Jolene was having another contraction, her whole body wracked with it and low, pained noises coming from deep in her throat. Harry just stared at him for a moment, one of those forceful, raking stares that made Louis feel as though he were being evaluated, his heart taken stock of.

"It's too late anyway, I think," said Harry. "Could you... think you could ride back on the four wheeler? Let them know, at least."

"Yeah, of course!" Louis felt a wave of relief wash over him. Everything was going to be all right after all. All he had to do was drive back to the ranch. "I'll go get Niall, we'll come back with the vet..." He spun on his heel and marched off toward the ATV, digging in his pocket for the keys.

He hopped on, fingers slipping over the slick metal as he fumbled the right key into the ignition. He turned it confidently, and felt the engine rev. Once. Before the headlights died and the blinking gas indicator went out. Louis felt a sudden, wrenching tug of hopelessness as he stared at the dead dash. Of course this would happen, he thought, letting out a single, pained laugh. Of course. Obviously. "Harry!" he called.

He ran back up the hill to Harry and Jolene, a knot of panic starting to form in his gut. "It won't start," he said, shaking his head, gobsmacked by the absurdity of it all. "The engine... I--I think it's out of gas, maybe."

Harry stood stock still. "Fuck," he said, softly.

We can't panic, Louis thought, trying to be firm with himself. We can figure this out.

He stood up straighter, sniffing as he rubbed the rain and tears out of his eyes with the heel of his hand. He had the beginnings of a headache; his contacts were starting to itch, but he barely noticed. His whole being was focused on the problem at hand. "What do we do?" he asked.

"Get me the kit, please," Harry said. "I'm going to check how far she's dilated."

Harry sounded calm all of a sudden, as though the new clarity of the situation had focused him. But Louis could see the tension in the line of his shoulders as he knelt down by Jolene, the twitch in his jaw. He was nervous. Of course, he was nervous.