Escape to the Country

by Patsy Collins

  Duncan looked uncomfortable.

  "Right, but you wouldn't blame anyone else for his actions?" Jayne asked.

  "No."

  "Duncan is a relation. He used to visit Home Farm in the school holidays."

  "Oh! It's surprising we never bumped into each other."

  "Actually, I think we may have done," Duncan said. "I do remember a little girl with hair the colour of yours running away from some Llamas."

  "Yes, that would have been me. It was all Jayne's fault."

  Duncan grinned. "I believe you. Come on, I'll buy you a drink and you can tell me all about it."

  Conversation was easy after that. Leah told him about all her visits to Primrose Cottage and her obsession with the orphan lambs. Duncan tried to remember where he'd have been at the time and to work out if they'd ever met then.

  "Probably not. I went to boarding school so my parents were keen to keep me with them during the holidays. About the only times I left my grandparent's smallholding was when I walked across Home Farm fields to spend my pocket money in the village shop. Now that's odd - I took the same route as the day you had to rescue me, but I never got chased by cows. I don't remember there being any, it was more like walking through a maze."

  "That's exactly what it would have been; a field of maize."

  Leah didn't know what maize was, or how Duncan could have known and remembered what had been growing there.

  "It's like sweetcorn," he explained. "Used to make silage. I used to ride in the tractor sometimes when it was sown and every year, we all picked some and cooked it in its husks on portable barbecues at the side of the field. The type grown for animal feed isn't reckoned to be as good as that grown as a vegetable, but picked young and eaten straight away, it's delicious."

  "I remember Jayne telling me about that. Well, taunting rather than telling because I love sweetcorn and was always back at school before that happened. She was really mean to me sometimes." Leah gave what she hoped was a cute looking pout.

  "She was a bad girl all round as I remember." Duncan told her about the occasion he'd caught Jayne and a boyfriend in the hay loft at Home Farm. "I didn't actually see anything other than the two of them sneaking out, but she went so red when I mentioned it, I knew she'd been up to something she shouldn't."

  Leah giggled. Twenty years afterwards didn't seem too long for her to continue the teasing on the subject.

  "To be honest, I was so young and innocent I thought they might have been drinking cider."

  Leah wouldn't mind giving him a practical lesson in what a couple of teenagers were likely to have been getting up to in a hay loft. Good thing he wasn't really the mind reader she'd thought him the first time she met him.

  "Maybe they were?" she asked. She didn't want to give the impression she had a one track mind.

  "Trust me, they weren't! I suspect my turning up just then blighted her love life for months."

  "I don't think either of us helped her love life much. I pulled a mean trick with some frogs one night when her parents went out and left her baby-sitting me."

  In the pub, they sat opposite each other, both of them leaning over the table. There was plenty of eye contact and some of the physical kind too. Their hands occasionally brushed as they reached for their drinks and sometimes they touched deliberately. It was just a playful slap of his arm when he was cheeky or touch of her hand when making a point, but it felt good.

  Talking to Duncan about their almost shared childhood made her feel much closer to him. When he held her hand to walk with her to his car, it felt perfectly natural. They didn't talk so much on the drive home, but it felt friendly and companionable, not awkward. Leah had to concentrate hard not to stare at him all the way home.

  She wasn't surprised when his kiss goodnight was more than a brief peck. He held her close and moved slowly, giving plenty of time for her to offer a cheek if she didn't want to be kissed on the lips. She didn't turn her face away.

  Duncan didn't release her immediately after the kiss. He held her gently and said he hoped to see her again soon.

  "I'd like that." She was aware of the blood rushing round her body and felt warm and happy.

  "We're busy with the first calves at the moment. Hopefully I'll be able to get you over to see a birth soon, but I'll give you a call soon anyway."

  "Great, I look forward to it."

  She was a little disappointed he hadn't arranged another date immediately, but she didn't show it. He was definitely being more than just friendly. That would have to do for now.

  Duncan phoned quite early Sunday morning. "It looks as though we're going to get some calves today. You're very welcome to come over, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to come and get you."

  "That's OK, I'll drive round once we've finished here. I won't miss everything if I don't get there straight away?"

  "No. Once one calves, it's quite common for that to set the others off, but the first one has only just started."

  "OK, I'll get there as soon as I can."

  Jayne overheard the conversation and, guessing what it was about, said, "Best go now. You'll want to see the first signs of calving, so you know what to look out for."

  "Yes, that's true." And it gave her the opportunity to spend more time with Duncan. "Thanks, Jayne, I'll see you later."

  Leah saw Duncan's car in the yard at Home Farm and parked next to it. Beeping her horn seemed rude and she didn't want to go to the farmhouse and risk coming across Mr Gilmore-Bunce, so she followed the sound of cows mooing in the hope of finding Duncan.

  She spotted him the other side of a huge pen, full of enormous cows. They seemed even more massive than the ones who'd scared her the day she got stuck in the mud. Duncan didn't seem bothered though, he was in with them shaking straw about for their bedding.

  He saw her and waved. "Come here, you'll want to see this."

  Leah would much rather see whatever it was from a safe distance, but it was clear he expected her to join him.

  "It better be worth it," she muttered under her breath, before climbing onto the metal bars of the pen. She swung her leg over the top and took several steps without incident. The cows nearest her were lying down. She negotiated safely round them, then found her way blocked by a standing cow. The thing was so tall she couldn't see over it to where Duncan was waiting.

  After a moment's panic, Leah saw it was chewing the cud. That placid behaviour reminded her of Rosemary and made her braver. She put her hand on the animal's back and gently pushed, just as Jayne had shown her to do when she needed to move one of the Jerseys.

  "Move over, girl," she whispered.

  The cow obeyed and wandered slowly out of Leah's way. Gosh, she was getting to be a proper farm hand. With considerably more confidence, Leah walked ever closer to Duncan. Soon another cow blocked her progress. This one's belly was huge, it had to be having triplets at least.

  Leah decided there was just room for her to squeeze by.

  As Leah edged alongside the big beast, another cow had the same idea and came towards her. That one was the fattest yet. The one at her side had nowhere to go, the one approaching didn't have space to move aside and a glance behind her showed Leah she was being followed, so couldn't make a hasty retreat. Couldn't the cow coming towards her see it was going to crush her, or didn't it care?

  She put her hand out like a policeman stopping traffic and ordered it to, "Stay."

  The cow kept coming.

  Leah's throat became so tight, she wasn't able to repeat her command, let alone yell to Duncan for help. She closed her eyes and waited.

  The smell of cow was really strong and Leah could feel their warmth. Then came the impact. First it was like being jostled on the underground. Then nothing. She opened her eyes. The cow had gone. Did that mean she was dead and it had walked right through her?

  "She's not due until next week," Duncan said.

  Leah realised she was holding onto a cow for support. She tried taking a step. Everything seemed to be in
working order and although Duncan was giving her an odd look, it wasn't one that suggested he was conversing with the dead.

  "You OK?"

  "I thought I was going to get squished."

  Duncan grinned. "Never looks like there's room for them to get by, does it? Luckily their big bellies just swing out the way."

  "I'm glad my near death experience amused you!"

  "Oh, Leah! I'm sorry if you were worried, but honestly I wouldn't have got you to come in here if there was any danger."

  She took a few deep breaths. "So, what did you want me to see?"

  As Duncan pointed out cows in various stages of pregnancy and explained how she could tell, she forget her annoyance. He was trying to help her and he had contacted her at the first opportunity and invited her over, so she should be grateful.

  "Those two there, which will calve first?" He pointed out two cows side be side with their backs to them.

  "That one. It looks like it's producing milk."

  "Quite right. With Rosepetal, because it's her first calf, the difference will be even more obvious."

  "I'll keep a close eye on her. Jayne says that when a cow is about to start calving you can tell. Is that right?"

  "Yes. It's difficult to explain, but once you know the cow, you know when something's happening."

  "That's why you knew there'd be calves today."

  He nodded.

  "Is it some of these?"

  "No, we've already separated out the ones we expected to calve today."

  "To give them some privacy?"

  He grinned again. "You can think of it that way if you like, but really it's for safety. As you've seen, there's not a lot of room in here. We bring them all together like this when they're due so we can monitor them regularly. They've just been here a couple of days and we'll be taking more out each day over the next few weeks."

  "A busy time?"

  "Very. We try to get them calving in two batches. One now and one lot had theirs about three months ago and are just getting in calf again now."

  "Like Rosemary. I see."

  "Remember I said that when one cow starts to give birth it sets the others off?"

  "Yes."

  "That's happened here. A cow who wasn't due for a couple of days seems to be starting early."

  "Will she be OK?"

  "Fine, but I want to get her into a separate pen. Give me a hand?"

  "OK. Which one is she?"

  "You tell me."

  Leah looked round the pen. Every cow had a different pattern of black and white markings, but to her they all looked very similar. She couldn't even recognise the two she thought were going to crush her. No, actually she could. The fidgety one in the corner looked as though it was the one which pushed past her. It might have felt it had an urgent need to be somewhere, but it didn't seem to know what to do with itself now it was there.

  She looked at each of the other cows in turn. They weren't doing a lot. A couple had their heads in the trough which ran along one end of the pen and were eating what looked like particularly horrendous muesli. One was drinking from the water tank. The rest were all lying or standing while they chewed. Her attention kept being drawn back to the fidgeter. That cow was the only one not chewing and it kept turning round as though checking no one were sneaking up on her. It seemed odd for a cow to be paranoid.

  "Oh! It's her, isn't it? The fidgety one?" Leah pointed.

  Duncan grinned. "Yep and luckily she's got herself right by the gate, so getting her out will be easy."

  It was. Duncan opened the gate to let her out and the cow, prompted by a few nudges from Leah, followed him into a separate stall. They shut her in and went to check on the rest of the cows. None had actually started to give birth, but Leah believed him when Duncan said it wouldn't be long. Unless it was her imagination, they did seem as though they were expecting something to happen.

  "Let's have a cup of tea and come back later," Duncan suggested.

  "Good plan."

  He set off for the farmhouse.

  "You won't get into trouble will you?" Leah said.

  "Trouble, why?"

  "For taking me inside and..."

  "No, silly."

  Duncan had a key to the house and clearly felt at home there. She'd forgotten he was related to that awful Gilmore-Bunce, who luckily wasn't at home. Of course he wasn't; there was work to do.

  The house was large with lots of furniture, but that didn't stop Duncan from sitting close to her on a leather sofa. It felt good to be with him like that; a mixture of excitement and relaxation. She was pleased she was learning from him and had been able to help him move the cow. Hopefully he too had noticed they made a good team.

  By the time they'd drunk the tea and returned to the maternity stalls, a cow had gone into labour. Leah watched fascinated as the cow huffed and puffed, looking just like a woman having contractions, except it was standing and fairly quiet. She almost didn't notice Duncan put his arm around her shoulders as he watched with her.

  After a while the cow lay down. That didn't seem to suit her though as she thrashed about a bit as though trying to find a comfortable position. She soon stood up again. Behind her was a calf covered in slime.

  "She's had it!"

  He gave her shoulders a quick squeeze. "Yes. Don't be worried if Rosepetal takes much longer though. This is the fifth calf for this one. First calves often take hours."

  Leah nodded. She was feeling a lot happier about her role as temporary midwife.

  "She did it all on her own. Jayne said they do, but I couldn't imagine it."

  The new mother began energetically licking her calf. Within just a few minutes, it had got shakily to its feet and started to drink.

  "I feel all emotional."

  Duncan ruffled her hair. "Want to see it again?"

  "She's having twins?" It didn't seem possible. The cow was huge, but so was the calf.

  "Nope. Come on." He grabbed her hand.

  They went to look at fidgety. She hadn't started to calve, but the cow in the stall next to her had. The second cow lay down for the whole process and took a bit longer, but everything went just as smoothly. By the time the second calf was on its feet and drinking, the fidgety cow was laid down making the heaving movements with her belly which meant another calf was on its way. After half an hour, Duncan suggested another cup of tea.

  "Should we leave her?"

  "She'll be fine for a while."

  They didn't take so long drinking the second cup of tea, but Duncan sat just as close. He only talked about cows and gave advice on what to do when Rosepetal calved, but with him sitting so close she could feel his breath on her cheek, the conversation seemed very intimate.

  Two hours after Leah had first realised the cow was about to calve, two feet appeared from the Friesian's back end.

  "There it is!" Leah cried.

  "Yes, she's doing fine."

  After a few more heaves, they could see the calf's nose.

  "That's a really good sign. Means the calf is the right way round. If you can see back legs, or there's no head it's likely to be a difficult birth."

  Although Duncan kept assuring Leah everything was fine, with words and hugs, the cow continued to heave without making any more progress.

  "Shouldn't you call a vet?"

  "There's no need, but she's been at it a while; we'd better give her a hand."

  "We?"

  "You wanted some training."

  Leah could only nod. If she chickened out now how could she hope to help Rosepetal or earn Duncan's respect?

  Duncan opened the door to the stall and stepped inside. He waited a moment then indicated Leah should join him.

  "Do everything slowly and gradually, we don't want to alarm her."

  No need; Leah was alarmed enough for the both of them.

  Slowly they approached the cow and knelt behind her.

  "Easy there, Wanda," Duncan said as he put his hand on the cow's back.

  "Wan
da?" Leah asked.

  "You didn't think Rosemary and Rosepetal were the only cows with names?"

  As that's exactly what she had thought, Leah kept quiet.

  "What we're going to do is help the calf out, by gently pulling each time she pushes. Don't jerk and don't use too much force."

  "Right."

  She must have sounded as scared as she felt, because Duncan squeezed her hand.

  "I'll tell you exactly when."

  He helped her get hold of the calf's ankles, then knelt behind her. He reached round and put his hands just above hers. Once she was in his arms, she didn't feel so worried.

  The cow heaved.

  "Now, gently."

  Leah hardly dared pull at all, but she guessed Duncan was using more strength.

  "OK, stop."

  She released her grip.

  "Keep hold, just don't pull again until I say."

  "Sorry."

  "You're doing fine."

  She felt fine, maybe because she could feel the heat of his body, pressed against her.

  "OK, pull now."

  They pulled and for a second it seemed the calf's head would come free, then it disappeared back inside its mother.

  "I think the head will come next time."

  It did and a few pulls later, the rest followed. Duncan quickly lifted its leg, dropped it back down and said, "Let's go."

  By the time they'd got themselves out and shut the door, Wanda was on her feet, licking the calf.

  Tears coursed down Leah's cheeks.

  "You were right about the emotional bit," Duncan said. He held her close and kissed her forehead.

  "Don't you feel at all emotional at a birth?"

  "I'm pleased they're both fine and that it's a heifer calf. Wanda's a good milker, so her new calf will eventually join the herd." He led her to a tap in the yard where they washed their hands.

  "You'll have to think of a name for her then."

  "It'll be Wanda."

  "Wanda the second?"

  "About the hundred and second. Each cow is named after its mother, so she's got sisters and aunts also called Wanda."