Page 27 of The Rancher

Lyris removed the gloves and tossed them in a trash bag Ray found in his truck. “This one is a colt, too.” She wrapped her arms around the mare’s neck and hugged her. “You did a great job, girl.” She stepped around the mare and visually examined the colts.

Both were on their feet—wobbly—but standing, nonetheless. They were skittish, as all newborns were.

Lyris, so as not to crowd them, walked around Junebug’s rear, even though crossing in the front would have been quicker. Once she was outside the stall, she closed the gate and turned to Ray. “Shall we see to the other two?”

He waved his hand toward the gate. “That’s why we’re here.”

“Then let’s get to it so you can take me home. I’m tired, and it’s going to be a very long day.” He had no idea just how long, but she did. Two more horses to get through the process. Hopefully, no more twins. Another set of twins would be a miracle. Multiple births were rare. Even more rare was to have two full-term healthy babies. Junebug was already amazing to have achieved that.

Lyris wouldn’t leave until she could check both mares after the births. She’d nearly lost a horse that had continued to bleed profusely after giving birth. That would never happen again. Not on her watch.

The other two mares had no problems delivering and caring for their foals.

“It looks like you have two more fillies to add to your herd.”

He leaned against a column between the stalls. “So it appears. I’ll keep those two here, but I want Junebug and the twins to come back to the ranch. I’ve called for a trailer. I’d like you to stay until it arrives and we get the horses loaded.”

“That’s fine. I like the idea of being able to keep an eye on the twins. It’s unusual for a horse to carry both babies full term. Junebug is amazing. And it appears that she’s producing enough milk for them, but I want to be able to supplement it, if needed. I don’t want anything to happen to them. This is a long way to come if there is an emergency. I don’t anticipate it with the other two mares, but with the twins, it’s more likely something could happen.”

He nodded. “They are vulnerable now and I don’t want to lose either one.”

“You won’t. Not as long as I’m here. I’ll do everything I can to make sure they get strong and stay safe.”

CHAPTER 8

Aweek later, Lyris watched the black storm clouds forming in the south. The weather forecast on the local news channel warned of tornados today. Being on the eastern plains of Colorado, they were where the destructive storms hit most. Colorado natives called it tornado alley, though it was outside the boundaries of the area national forecasters had named tornado alley.

Time to take the horses back into the barn from the corral. Ray liked to let the new mares and their foals run in the corral before transferring them to pasture.

He’d moved Junebug over here so they could monitor the twins. So far, they were growing well. Junebug proved to be a fantastic mother. She was attentive and made sure the babies weren’t lazy by making them run around the corral as often as she could. Luckily, she didn’t have to do much. The little colts loved chasing each other.

Lyris grabbed Junebug’s rope and led her inside.

The babies followed their mother. At only a week old, they were still being careful to keep Junebug between them and Lyris.

She didn’t mind. They would eventually get used to her. For now, she was happy they got close enough to sniff herhand. Soon they would let her pet them and give them their vaccinations.

She’d just moved the mare and her colts into the stall when lightning hit the ground outside the corral. The thunder boomed only a second after the strike made Junebug, Majesty and Stormchaser all whinny.

Stormchaser started kicking the gate across his stall.

Lyris ran toward him.

He kicked it again and again until finally it burst open.

The gate hit her with such force she was thrown against the barn wall, hitting her head.

The stallion ran toward the open barn door that led out into the corral. Then he jumped the fence like it was two feet high instead of five.

“Oh, my God.” Lyris ran to the open barn door. “Oh, my God.” She pulled her phone from her rear jeans pocket and punched in Ray’s number.

He answered on the second ring.

“What’s up?”

“Stormchaser got out. He jumped the corral fence and is loose.”

“I’ll be right there. Don’t go anywhere.”