He's Got Her Goat

by Christine

  “Shoot them,” said Paige.

  “It’s only a double barrel. I have one more shot.” He clipped a dog in the head with the butt of his gun. The creature yelped.

  She noticed two other dogs baring their teeth and hedging in. Paige wondered if they’d have to go, and let the newborn take his chances without the needed nourishment. At last the kid latched on. Petunia was swaying, and Paige held her haunches to support her while the baby goat finished her first milestone.

  Sterling called over his shoulder. “They’re not leaving. I’ve counted six of them.”

  As Paige released Petunia, the nanny slid to the ground. The goat’s head lifted as she tried to get up. “I’m so sorry, my friend.” Paige stroked the goat’s face while holding the small, wet kid to her chest.

  “We’ve got to go.” He hooked his arm around her, trying to force her to her feet.

  Paige wouldn’t leave. “You can lift her. You’re strong enough. We can call the vet.”

  “No, I know it sounds harsh, but letting the dogs have her is our only chance. Otherwise, they’ll attack us.” Sterling threw a rock and hit the alpha male on the nose. The others retreated a step but weren’t backing down.

  Tears came then. “I can’t let her die by being torn apart. I can’t do it.”

  Sterling cupped her cheek in his palm. “Go ahead, and I’ll do what has to be done.”

  She knew he was right. She kissed Petunia’s forehead and left, clutching the newborn. She didn’t turn around when the last shot was fired and tried not to hear the sound of the dogs’ frenzy.

  It seemed like seconds later that Sterling had his arm around her. “At least Petunia’s offspring is going to be healthy.” He patted the little kid’s head. “What shall we call her?”

  It was the first time she really looked at the small animal. Mostly white, she had one black spot on her knee and a large grey uneven splotch on her spine. Paige followed the edge of the spot with her finger. “It looks like a flower.”

  “Daffodil?” Sterling suggested.

  Paige nodded but couldn’t speak. She nuzzled the little creature, feeling the bittersweet pain of the end and beginning of things, so often combined. Ahead the cattle gate shone in the moonlight. She touched Sterling’s arm. “Thank you for doing what I never could.”

  “I’m sorry it had to be done.” He lowered his eyes, and she could see that he was as shaken as she was.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  BEFORE THEY HAD EVEN CROSSED the highway, Sterling could see a black sedan pull into his father's driveway. In the distance he watched his father near it with caution.

  “Who do you think that is?” Paige asked.

  Sterling thought about his visit with Dotty. He never should have gone into the city. Was it already over? “It could be a government car. We crossed state lines, so it’s possible the FBI could be after us.”

  The passenger door opened, and a boy about ten stepped out. Another boy a few years older appeared beside him. “They must be recruiting mighty young these days,” Paige said.

  Sterling unlatched the gate as the driver emerged. When he saw the brunette woman in her early thirties, he dropped the lock and chain he was holding. How could she have known he was here? Did Dad call her? He wondered if she’d even want to talk to him again. He knew a child was on its way when he left but had intentionally not asked for details because how could he have stayed away then?

  He bolted across the road. As her features became clearer in the night, he could tell she’d been crying. He stood still about five feet from her, unsure how she would react at the sight of him. His dad took a step back and let her take the lead.

  “Sterling?” she said. “You’re here?”

  He moved tentatively toward her. “Linda, I came back to help a friend.” Her shoulders began shaking, and he could see large tears begin to stream down her face. “I’m so sorry I screwed everything up,” he said.

  She sniffled, trying to get control of her emotions. “You didn’t. I did.” She lifted her arms and took her brother into a tight embrace.

  Sterling thought coming to terms with his dad was going to be tough, but Linda opened a whole new chamber of his past he hadn’t been ready to consider.

  “You’re Uncle Sterling?” the little boy at his side said. “You don’t look that mean.”

  His older brother whispered to the boy. “He does have a gun.”

  Linda didn’t try to correct them but put a hand on each of her sons’ heads. “This is Tyler and his younger brother Josh.”

  Sterling handed the rifle to his father and knelt before the boys. “Good to meet you.” He put out his hand and shook theirs in greeting.

  Josh pointed behind his uncle. “Who’s that?”

  Standing, Sterling motioned for Paige to come join him. “This is my friend, Paige. We had a bit of a scare with wild dogs. Maybe we should head inside.”

  “No,” the boy said. “Who is that?” He pointed to the creature in Paige’s arms.

  She came close to Josh, so he could see. “This is Daffodil. She was just born.”

  His eyes widened, and he reached his hand up then stopped. “Can I touch her?”

  Paige nodded, and the little boy ran his hand against the kid’s mostly dry coat.

  “Me too,” his brother said and pet the kid’s neck and side gently. “Where’s her mama?”

  “She didn’t make it.” Paige’s voice broke.

  “It’s okay, Daffodil.” Josh said. “We’ll be your friends.”

  Sterling put his arm around Paige, and they headed to the house. “Dad, Austin and I can take the couch tonight, so the boys have a bed.”

  Paige interrupted. “Where is Austin?” She looked around and saw the pickup gone.

  Sterling’s dad responded. “He went to find Misty. She also covers animal control. Now about the sleeping arrangements. . .”

  Paige interrupted. “They can sleep with their mother since I’ll be in the kitchen with Daffodil all night. She’ll need to be watched and fed.”

  “We can do that.” Tyler volunteered. “I’ve fed calves before at the dairy in Etna.”

  “They’d be good with her,” Linda added.

  “Well then.” Paige handed the newborn to Tyler who stood a little taller and carefully carried the small goat into the full and messy kitchen.

  Linda looked around at the folded quilts on every surface. “What is this?” She seemed to grow misty-eyed.

  “It’s my soap. I make it from goat’s milk,” Paige said.

  Sterling could tell she was embarrassed, thinking Linda’s comment was derogatory. He wanted her to understand what Linda was feeling. “When my mom would make soap, the kitchen looked just like this.”

  “It’s true,” said Linda, patting Paige’s arm. “It makes it feel like home again.”

  “Oh,” Paige covered her mouth. “Bedding may be a problem, too. I used all the quilts.”

  Sterling’s dad slapped a hand on his youngest grandson’s shoulder “Josh, why don’t you help Uncle Sterling climb into the attic and get two sleeping bags.”

  “Three,” Tyler added. “We’ll need one for Daffodil.”

  “Three then,” he said. Sterling knew his dad hoped to get the boys comfortable with him as soon as possible and agreed. Now wasn’t the time to worry about what happened so long ago. It was time to do the best he could. There would be plenty of opportunities later to work out the other issues.

  AT ONE THIRTY IN THE MORNING Paige finally let her head hit the pillow. The day wasn’t only physically exhausting but had emotionally taken its toll. She closed her eyes and envisioned Petunia lying there struggling to cling to life. Unbidden tears dripped down the sides of her face and tapped on her pillow. Paige hoped Linda couldn’t tell she was crying. Sterling’s sister slept on her side with her back to Paige, who took a shuddered breath.

  Linda rolled onto her back, looking at the ceiling. “Thank you for turning what could have been one of the worst days i
n my life into one of the best.”

  “Your brother did the same for me.” Paige remembered how he held her after Petunia was gone and chose the kid’s name.

  Linda smiled and rolled to her side again. “It’s nice that he’s changed.”

  That was all she said. Paige laid there awake until she could hear her bedmate’s breathing become deep and even. Like a sliver under her skin, she couldn’t leave it alone. He was keeping something from her, and she couldn’t love him completely until he trusted her enough to share it.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  THE NEXT MORNING PAIGE OPENED her eyes to a child staring at her. Josh scrunched his nose. “I didn’t wake you up, did I? I was being really quiet.”

  “No.” Paige sat up alone in the bed and looked out the window. “What time is it?” The sun was already over the top of the barn.

  “Almost lunch. Daffodil’s doing great, and we milked the goats with Uncle Sterling. Oh, and Mr. Austin is awesome.”

  Paige scratched her head as Josh bolted from the room. It was hard to imagine any child calling Austin awesome. Not that he wasn’t, it’s just most kids didn’t see him that way. She rinsed off her face and changed into a fresh pair of jeans before descending the stairs. Voices drifted from the kitchen, and she peered around the doorway. The wrapped apple crates had been stacked on the center counter, and the kitchen table was covered with a lace cloth. At one end, a single place setting sat unused. Sterling and Linda were standing over by the other side of the sink with their backs to her, working on something. They were the only two in the room.

  “Morning, if you can still call it that.” Paige stuck her hands in her pockets.

  “You’re up.” Sterling hurried to the table and pulled out a chair. “If you’ll sit, we’ve got a few surprises for you.”

  She shuffled forward and sat in the chair. “Sorry I wasn’t there to help with the milking.”

  Linda called over her shoulder, still facing the far counter. “Don’t worry. The boys loved it, and Sterling said they finished in record time.”

  Opening the oven, Sterling retrieved a plate mounded with steak and eggs and set it in front of her. Paige lifted her fork as he poured a glass of milk.

  Not quite meeting her eyes, he said, “When you’re ready, we’d like to share what we’ve been working on.”

  Sterling was clearly nervous, which made Paige feel the same way. She took a bite of the steak and chewed slowly, wondering what was going on. She swallowed. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

  Linda had a crate in her arms, but her back was to Paige. She turned around, and Paige dropped her jaw. Cradled in the yellow straw were a dozen cut bars of new soap. Linda had wrapped each with rough string like a ribbon on a gift and put a sprig of dried greenery and a little tag on them. The writing on the tag read Daffodil Soap.

  “Those are adorable,” Paige said. “Where did you get the tags?”

  “Jerry’s,” Linda answered. “Her brother has a die cutter and makes them. I tied them with baling twine. I thought we could change out the greenery depending on the type of soap. For this one I used mint from Mom’s garden.”

  Paige held the bar in her hand. “It’s perfect.”

  “And it cuts your production time and cost by at least seventy percent.” Sterling sat in the chair next to her.

  She wasn’t going to let him get away with this that easily. “Okay, for display purposes the apple crate works, but what about individual sales? Really the bar isn’t even completely wrapped.”

  Sterling looked to Linda who ran to the corner and brought out small gift bags of different colors. She lifted a bright yellow one, lined with shredded tissue paper. Daffodil Soap had been scrolled tastefully across the front with her logo of Petunia surrounded by flowers in the bottom corner. There was a lime one for the Lemon Grass Jojoba, a peach for the Apricot Almond Oil, a natural one for the Oatmeal Shea Butter and so on.

  “The handwriting is gorgeous.” Paige guessed it didn’t belong to Sterling.

  Linda was blushing slightly. “Thank you. When Mom used to make soap, I’d wrap them up for her, so they’d look like a gift.”

  “Your dad told me they were unique,” Paige said, trying to be tactful.

  “Horrible was more like it, but they looked pretty when I finished with them. It was more about giving a piece of love than a bar of soap, anyway.” Linda smiled, but her eyes grew misty at the mention of her mother. Sterling clasped her hand.

  Paige wished she could have met their mother but was grateful for the wonderful legacy she had left behind.

  Sterling jolted and slapped both hands on the table. “It’s almost ten thirty. We’ve got to get going, or we’ll miss them.”

  “Where? Who?” Paige looked from brother to sister but neither would say anything.

  Linda lifted the crate from the table. “I’ll stay here and finish cutting the soap. You two have fun, but make sure you check in the barn on your way out. The boys would be heartbroken if you didn’t.”

  Taking her hand in his, Sterling led her out the door. Tyler, Linda’s oldest was waiting for them. Stacking hay bales, he had sectioned off a little room from the rest of the goats where Josh was sitting with Daffodil beside him.

  Tyler stood by their side. “Grandpa found an old calf bottle. We fed her once about four in the morning and now. We thought we’d go to eight hours for the next feeding.”

  “That’s exactly right.” Paige knelt by Josh who was so focused on his task that he hardly noticed her. Daffodil latched onto the bottle well and had a ring of warm foam around her little white mouth. In her face Paige could see the shape of Petunia’s head but her coloring was more like King’s. She ran her hand along the kid’s soft coat.

  “Thank you so much, boys. You’re doing a great job.”

  Tyler stood a little taller. “Grandpa’s helping us fix the fence in the back field, so we can separate the milking nannies from the others. We should have it done by tonight.”

  “Wow.” She stood and rested a hand on Tyler’s shoulder. “You two keep track of your hours because I intend to pay you. We’ll work out the details later.” Paige could tell Sterling was anxious to go. He kept looking at his watch. “We’ll talk as soon as I get back.” She planted a kiss on Tyler’s cheek and one on the top of Josh’s head before running to Sterling’s side.

  Sterling grabbed her hand. “We better hurry.” Together they jogged toward the highway.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  They dashed across the road and toward the cattle gate. The sheriff’s car was parked in front of it.

  The lock was open, so Sterling only had to remove the chain. “To the meadow. Austin and Misty are waiting for us.”

  A pit settled in her stomach, and she stopped. “I don’t want to go back there ever. I don’t want to think about what happened last night again.”

  He put an arm around her and lifted her chin. “They caught the owner of the dogs. Austin was a real hero in this thing, but I want him to tell you.”

  Paige remembered the boy’s comment when she first woke up. “That’s why Josh called him awesome.” She took a deep breath. “I’ll trust you on this.”

  “You won’t regret it.”

  She took his hand, and they hurried to the meadow.

  Austin was always a bit of a neat freak, but you’d never guess by looking at him now. His face was smudged with fresh dirt, the knees of his trousers were grass stained, and his hands were caked in mud. Misty was in her uniform but almost in the same condition. Paige could tell by their faces both were exhausted, but they greeted her with matching smiles. Behind Austin and Misty was a shovel and a fresh plot of earth. Paige could guess what it was for before Austin confirmed her suspicions.

  “We buried the last of Petunia’s remains,” he said. “When the dogs attacked her, one of them got the microdot stuck to his muzzle, so we could chase them.”

  Misty stepped forward. “It was Austin’s computer thing that
led us to their owner. He’s being charged, and the dogs are in custody. Because of you all, they won’t hurt anyone else.”

  “What’s going to become of them?” Paige asked.

  Misty’s face was set, and she looked little like the beauty Paige had seen yesterday. Today, she was serious and responsible. “They are scheduled to be destroyed.”

  “No.” Paige turned to Sterling. “I don’t think it was their fault they were starving. Couldn’t you call Kiyo about Best Friends? I think that’s what they do, isn’t it? Rehabilitate dogs like that.”

  Sterling brightened. “Good idea. Misty, can you hold off until then?”

  “Sure.” She nodded. “And, Sterling, I dropped that CD off you asked for. Your dad said he’d put it in his office.”

  Paige wasn’t sure what she was talking about.

  Across the meadow they could hear footsteps and turned to find Jerry holding a flat of lavender petunias. Paige met Sterling’s eyes and couldn’t help herself. She threw her arms around him and kissed him. “You are so sweet. Petunias for Petunia.”

  Sterling reddened. “I had to call Jerry about the bags and tags anyway.”

  Four trowels hung from Jerry’s belt loops. They all knelt and planted the new flowers together. While on her knees beside Austin, he turned to her. “Another cool thing happened last night. We thought we had lost the dogs' signal. They had gone out of the two-mile radius since we had to follow the roads. Anyway, the beast must have hit an electric fence because it boosted the output. Isn’t that cool?”

  Paige nodded without saying anything, not quite certain why this development was so significant.

  “Think of the applications on cars, cellphones, pacemakers, hearing aids and children’s clothing!” Austin’s hands were trembling with excitement. “Okay, that last one doesn’t have an electrical source, yet. They could all be tracked.”

  Misty turned toward him with a smile. “This man is a genius.”