John opened the containers of food and laid them out on the blanket. There was crispy fried chicken, cold macaroni salad, Southern buttermilk biscuits, ruby red cherry pie and sweetened iced tea.
“Goodness, this is some lunch! I imagined that it would be simple sandwiches and the cherry pie,” Randa laughed.
“This is the first picnic lunch that I have ever prepared, so I wanted to do it right!”
“Well, you certainly did!”
They began to eat. The conversation continued and flowed very easily. “What did you enjoy most about the country when you visited your grandparents home?” John asked.
“From their house it was about a quarter of a mile walk back through the woods to get to the Kiamichi River. I would go and sit on the river bank for hours and enjoy the serenity.”
“That’s how I feel when I’m in Alaska. I love the feeling I get being there.”
“Don’t you feel that here too?” Randa asked him.
“Not really.”
“Why? It’s absolutely beautiful here.”
“I think it’s because this ranch reminds me of my parent’s break-up. I don’t really feel a sense of total peace here, though I probably should. It was a long time ago and they have moved forward with their lives. I just don’t know how to explain it,” John paused. “But I can say that I did really enjoy spending the evening with you last night.” John reached over and gave Randa a kiss on the cheek. She blushed and smiled shyly, but before she could speak, they heard what sounded like a cow bellowing, but it seemed to be more of a sickly moan. John didn’t like what he was hearing. Jumping up to his feet, he reached down to grab Randa’s hand. She took his hand and rose to her feet. “Something’s wrong. Come on” he said.
John took off his Stetson and threw it onto the makeshift picnic table. Racing through the woods with Randa following on his heels, he came out into a clearing and looked around the vast green pasture. He saw nothing unusual, so they waited and just listened. John was thankful when the low moan came again. Sprinting in that direction, he and Randa went around a corner of trees and there lay one of his heifers in the throes of trying to give birth to a calf. John approached the anxious animal slowly and knelt down to examine her.
“Oh my goodness,” Randa whispered.
“Yeah. She needs some help badly. I need to try to pull this calf. Randa, do you think you can find where the horses are?” John asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Okay. I have a couple of ropes in the left saddlebag on Majesty and there are some various first aid supplies in the right one. I need them. If you could hurry as fast as you can, that would be great.”
“Sure.”
“And if for any reason you can’t find your way back here,” he continued “either just go back to the horses if you can find them or to the spot where we were having the picnic and wait for me. I know that it can be very easy to get turned around and lost in the woods. Everything can start to look the same.” Randa nodded and John rose to his feet and gave her a quick hug. “Be careful Baby Doll,” he added. She looked at him. His eyes were gleaming. Randa smiled before taking off into the woods.
John was relieved that the heifer was lying down and on her right side, so that she could strain more effectively than if she were standing up and walking around trying to give birth to the calf. Also, it would make it easier to pull a calf because gravity wouldn’t be working against him, so he could pull not as hard which would result in less pressure on the calf.
John walked up to the front of the heifer and petted her face. Though her energy level was low, she was young and extremely healthy. The ranch usually had a couple of difficult first calf births each year. Fox generally kept the first-time expectant mothers in a couple of pastures that were close to the barn, but this one wasn’t. John knew that it was possible that the veterinarian had made a mistake when palpating the heifer. Thinking that she was not pregnant or not as far along as she actually was, as advised by the vet, Fox would have missed her and not put her in with the other expectant mothers.
Returning to the back of the animal, John got down on his knees and looked closer. Pulling the hand sanitizer out of his pocket that he brought for them to use before eating lunch, John was now thankful that he still had it, since he had no other way to sterilize his hands and arms. Rubbing it on his hands and arms as well as the heifer’s rectal-vagina area, he closed his fingers tightly together in hopes of not puncturing her reproductive tract when his hand entered her vagina. A lubricant would have helped greatly. He expected that there would be some in the supplies that Randa brought back. He was easily able to identify the cervix. She was not well dilated yet. That would buy him some time. The last thing John wanted to do was rush the process. He just hoped that she wouldn’t end up needing an emergency C-section. Halfway guessing and using all of the previous experience that he had, John thought that the calf felt a bit larger than normal. The heifer moaned as John took his arm out of her body. Standing up, he couldn’t help but to begin pacing. Unexpectedly, Randa appeared a few minutes later almost out of breath and carrying the saddlebags.
“Good girl,” John said aloud.
“I ran as fast as I could and I was lucky enough to find the horses with no problem,” Randa explained.
“You did wonderfully! Thank you!”
“How is she doing?” Randa inquired.
“I checked her a little bit ago and she wasn’t dilated enough yet. But we can get ready and if you would be kind enough to assist me, I think that we will be able to help her. I have never done this by myself, but I helped Fox many times. I thought about having you ride into the ranch to get Fox, but he is at the Oklahoma Angus Production sale over in Shawnee today. So, it looks like it’s just you and me kiddo,” John said with a grin across his face.
“I will do my very best!” Randa responded, not exactly sure what she was getting herself into, but happy to help John and the mama and its baby in any way that she could.
“Let’s open the saddlebags and see exactly what we have. I didn’t check them this morning. Fox just always keeps them stocked for emergencies,” John said. “Oh and thanks for bringing the whole thing. Sharp thinking. I usually think well on my feet, but I seem to be much better at mechanical and electrical emergencies, not the kind of emergency where there is a living, breathing life on the line.”
Randa laughed, “If anything I would be the opposite.”
“Okay, let’s see what we have.” Pulling out a bottle labeled General OB Lubrication, John stated, “I definitely need that.” Scanning the other contents, John told Randa that he needed to feel inside the heifer to determine the exact position of the calf. That would help him to decide their next step. Randa watched as John applied the lubricant to the rear of the heifer and to his arm and hand. Once again, keeping his fingers close together, he slowly worked his way in, taking note that the cervix was almost fully dilated. The heifer bellowed out unexpectedly. Feeling the legs, John gently grabbed onto one and began at the bottom of it. Moving his hand upward, John compared through feeling each joint for joint while looking at the heifer’s legs.
“Let’s see, these are its front legs and there is its face,” John said touching it, “so this is the normal anterior presentation. In other words, this is how it should be positioned inside its mother, so this is fantastic. I’m guessing that the calf is a little bit large for her pelvic opening. Hopefully with just a little bit of assistance from us, she should be able to have this calf and be okay. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.”
“Will do,” Randa replied. “Just let me know what you need.”
“I am going to try to pull it by hand instead of using the ropes. If we can let it happen naturally with only a little bit of help that will be the best thing for both of them.” The heifer had been straining on and off for a while now. John knew that it would be best to follow her rhythm. The heifer started pushing, so John grabbed onto both of the calf’s legs and began pulling, breakin
g it up into four or five pulls. When the heifer quit pushing, John pushed the calf’s legs back in its mother just a little bit to give it a chance to get circulation back into its head. Momentarily the heifer began pushing again and John began to pull.
An hour later the calf was finally born and out of its mother, but it wasn’t breathing. John had it in his lap.
“Is his heart beating?” Randa asked
“Yes, it is, but if he doesn’t start breathing soon, he will die.” John remembered watching Fox resuscitate a calf once before. Frantically trying to recall the steps, John took a deep breath. It couldn’t be much different that reviving a human being. Closing his eyes and stilling his mind for a moment, he focused on that memory. John knew that he first needed to clear the calf’s airways. Rolling the calf over to an upright position, John saw fluid draining from its nostrils. Waiting for a moment to see if that was enough, John grew impatient.
“Is there anything I can do?” Randa asked.
“No thank you Darlin. I’m just going to try and speed this up or we might lose him.” John put his fingers inside the calf’s mouth and began stripping out the excess fluid. Once he was finished with its mouth, he repeated the same thing in the calf’s nostrils using a suction-like action. After another moment of the calf still not breathing, John rolled the calf over onto its side and fully extended out its head and neck. Covering the calf’s mouth and one of its nostrils with his hands, John blew a full, but soft breath of air into the open nostril. Nothing happened. John once again breathed gently into the calf, careful not to rupture a lung.”
“Is it going to make it?” Randa asked.
“I don’t know,” John replied and as he looked at her, he saw a tear roll down her cheek for the furry black baby calf.
“I’m going to say a prayer for it.” Randa said and closed her eyes. John smiled and relaxed for a moment imagining the warmth of her sweet heart.
Trying to remain calm, but knowing that time was of the essence, John listened for the calf’s heartbeat. He could still hear it, though it was now faint, so he once again began to fill the calf’s lungs with air. Patiently waiting for a moment for the air to come back out, he began a steady rhythm of blowing and pausing. Randa was watching in anticipation and she caught herself holding her own breath. She was the first one to see the calf’s chest rise. John saw her expression change from sadness to triumph and he realized that the air wasn’t coming back out.
“It’s breathing, it’s breathing,” Randa cheered joyfully.
John continued giving the calf breaths until it began to breathe steadily on its own. They sat in silence listening to the calf breathe and marveling at the true miracle that life itself was. John reached over and placed his hand on top of Randa’s squeezing it.
“Oh I’m sorry, I forgot that I’m kind of dirty,” John said laughing as he realized that his hands had blood, mucous and various other animal fluids on them.
“That’s just not a problem,” Randa said laughing as she leaned over and gave him a kiss on his cheek feeling some thorny whiskers on her soft lips.
About that time, the newborn calf let out a loud bawl for its mama. John got up and backed away from the calf. Sensing that John wasn’t his mother, the calf tried to stand up. With its wobbly legs, it quickly hit the ground. The heifer now officially a cow since she had given birth, seemed rested from labor and began mothering her baby. The calf bellowed again as its mother licked its shiny coat.
“Before we go, I need to make sure that the calf sucks his Mama and gets his colostrum milk within 6 hours, because it has the essential antibodies that the calf needs,” John said. Finding a large, flat rock to sit and share, John and Randa collapsed with smiles on their faces.
“You were just amazing,” Randa said.
“Thank you so much, but I think it was my beautiful assistant that held the golden key. She just has this way about her,” John said smiling. “It’s hard to describe.” Randa blushed and laid her head on his shoulder for a moment. The calf reached up and nudged his mama’s udder and then he latched onto her teat with his mouth and began suckling hungrily. They watched for a while longer. Content in their silence with only the sound of the calf being nourished, they basked in the marvel of new life.
“I guess we better get going,” John remarked. He grabbed the saddlebag. They said good-bye to the mama and her brand new baby. John promised that he or Fox would be back to check on them in the morning. He held out his hand to Randa and she put hers in it. They took the path into the forest and back to their picnic spot.
Chapter Twelve
“It was so impressive the way he gently pulled that calf out of its mother and didn’t hurt it one bit. And then it was a miracle before my very own eyes when he brought it back to life by resuscitating it.” Randa was beaming at John. Fox and Taylor were watching her zealously.
John grinned back at her. “It was just instinct and common sense. I basically treated it like I would have if it had been a human being instead of a cow.”
“It sounds like you two had a very productive day!” Fox observed.
“We did and we’re starving!” Randa exclaimed as the server handed out the menus. They were at the dining at Per Se in Tulsa that evening. Since Taylor’s career and popularity had exploded, the number of places that she could go publicly and maintain her anonymity had diminished greatly. Though she was always thankful for her fans and she would gladly sign autographs for anyone at any time, she also craved privacy and genuinely enjoyed spending time with her family and friends. The owner of the restaurant was happy to accommodate them with a table in a private dining room.
The friends enjoyed their melt in your mouth perfectly marbled Certified Angus Beef ribeyes. The evening was filled with laughter. Taylor told stories about her stardom and silly things that happened while touring. Fox told wild tall tales that John had already heard at least twice, but each time, they seemed to get funnier. As much as she was relishing the conversation, Randa was lost in her own thoughts. She focused on how good it felt to have John holding her hand and stroking it with his thumb. His touch sent vibes through her like she had never felt before. It not only thrilled her, but she was starting to think that John had what no one else had ever had before. Randa was not sure what it was, but she knew that being with John was everything that she could ask for.
Taylor excused herself to the powder room and asked Randa if she would come along.
“They are ladies, but they are still girls,” Fox commented and John agreed.
A few minutes later, Taylor and Randa returned. The look on Randa’s face was one of complete euphoria. Taylor began to speak, “I assume that both of you know who Boz Scaggs is, correct?
“Sure, the singer,” John spoke up.
Taylor nodded. “He is a friend of mine and he is having a private party next weekend. I would like to invite you guys to come as my guests.
“Wow!” Fox exclaimed. “I would love to come.”
John looked over at Randa who was smiling happily at him. “Are you going Baby Doll?” he asked her.
Fox and Taylor looked at each other in surprise at what John called Randa, but it did not slow her down one bit.
“Of course! It will be a dream come true for me to meet Boz Scaggs. I have admired not only his exquisite voice, but also some of the songs that he has written are my favorite lyrics. John, I would be so happy if you would come and be my date.”
“Of course! I would love to Randa,” John said as he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you for inviting us Taylor.”
“Absolutely! We will have a great time. Boz is one of the most humble and genuine people that you will ever meet. Randa is already going to be in Nashville working this week, so if it’s fine I will have my private plane pick you guys up on Friday afternoon. The party isn’t until Saturday evening, but I thought that we might make a weekend out of it. Randa and I can show you some of the sights in Nashville, since neither of you have ever been there.�
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“I’m looking forward to it. Thank you Taylor!” Fox said.
Randa leaned over and gave John a hug and he pulled her in tighter to him, not letting her go. It was such a sweet gesture. She loved this charming, masculine man and she was receptive enough to discern his sterling worth. Randa could usually spot a louse from a great distance because they always had that used car salesmen persona.
John eventually let Randa go. He paid the bill and they climbed into his Ford dually for the trip back to the ranch. Randa and Taylor would be leaving the next day. Fox and Taylor excused themselves after they reached the house. It was late, but Randa didn’t want the evening to end. John grabbed a bottle of beer for himself and offered to make her a drink.
“I’ll take a Budweiser too,” Randa told him.
John eyed her, “Initially, I was surprised, but I’m really not. You didn’t utter one single word of displeasure or impatience today while we were helping the mama have her calf. You didn’t seem to care that you got dirty or that your hair got messed up. I adore that.”
“Thank you John! I’ll take that as a genuine compliment. I usually consider myself a ‘Cosmo Country Girl’ with Cosmo being as in Cosmopolitan, the magazine, because even though I feel upscale and sophisticated, especially when I am working in Nashville and meeting important people, I’m still an Okie who is entirely country at heart.”
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