by David Kersey
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
I saw the ant jump on Cassie's leg. Immediately I brushed if off and asked if the ant had stung her. She looked into my eyes while her leg started to convulse involuntarily. I grabbed her neck with my mouth, jumped over the ant that was behind us and raced to the house. She lay relatively motionless after I had placed her by the front door. I could hear her mumbling and her leg still twitched. I let out as loud a howl as I could and then scratched violently on the door. Sylvester appeared, saw Cassie and scooped her up and disappeared inside the house. He had shut the door before I could nudge my way through. I'm not ashamed to admit that I started crying. "Cassie, oh Cassie." I lamented.
"Buck?" I looked up and saw Oliver bravely standing at the top of the steps. "I saw it happen. I flew to the pasture and told Mort and he is moving all that livestock to the clearing. I'm calling a meeting and we all are going to train them. I went ahead and did it because I thought you would want to stay with Cassie."
"I'll join you as soon as I can. I need to wait for John and get inside the house. She's in bad shape, Oliver. You know where it happened. I hope you can get them before...."
"Stop right there, Buck. All three ants are dead. I got them good for you. If I swoop in from behind they don't see my quick enough. They're not that hard to kill, Buck."
"Thanks Oliver, but I have to say I feel bittersweet about it. They already got Cassie and I'm sick about it. I feel like I need to wretch."
"I know, Buck, we all love her too." I watched Oliver fly away and thankfully heard John's Land Rover coming up the drive. He hurried out of the SUV and raced to the front door, saying, "Come on, Buck."
Cassie lay motionless on the drawing room floor. John picked her up and opened the basement door. "Come on, old boy, we'll do our best." He placed her on one of the occasional tables, then produced a vial from his pocket and a syringe from inside one of the cabinet doors. "She still has a heartbeat, Buck." John administered the shot and said, "We'll see, Buck, it's going to be touch and go. With any luck, we'll have her back on her feet, and if she does make it, she's going to be sore and ill. He took her back upstairs and placed her in the same position in the drawing room. "Buck, show me where it happened."
John and I left the house, but before we proceeded, he went back to the car and loaded a hand held sprayer with the boric acid compound, then said, "Let's go." I took him to the exact spot. There were three dead bulldog ants lined up shoulder to shoulder as if a funeral was being planned. "Good boy, I see you got your revenge, did you get hurt?" What was I to say?
Instead I grabbed John's sleeve with my teeth and pulled him in the direction of the clearing. He needed to know that the animals were in affirmative action mode. We wouldn’t be much offense, yet he needed to know we were going to have a defense ready to go. We passed the meadow, then the pond, and while travelling the corridor in the trees, I could overhear Dorcas barking out orders. John and I stood at the edge of the woods and watched. All nine of the remaining circle were present. Penny was demonstrating her stomping motion in hopes her kin could learn the maneuver. Dorcas was helping my shouldering the pigs' leg joints and quacking out rather derogatory remarks. "Pick your feet up pig! Pick em up or I'll pickle em," then looked around to see if anybody was laughing. Even the guest pigs rolled their eyes. Oliver suggested that Stammer start talking about anything, just talk. So when Stammer began, his feet syncopated his stuttering. Oliver then said, "That's how to do it, watch Stammer."
"I see Klein's stock has arrived." John said as we watched the cows practicing the stomp. Felicia overheard John's comment and when she saw us she shrieked and scampered out of the clearing. John laughed and said, "I shot over her head one time. She was too close to Mozetta's garden."
"I see what you're getting done out here. I've got to get back to the house and make some calls. You stay here and keep up what you're doing." John turned and left. I wanted to go with him. I wanted to lay at Cassie's side, but he gave me an order, and what good could I do anyway? Cassie would either make it, or not, either way there was nothing I could do but wait. The pit in my stomach hurt tremendously.
Oliver sailed down to my seat. "I haven't seen any more ants except some dead ones at the old cornfield. How's Cassie?"
"I don't know, Oliver. She is in rough shape. John gave her an anti-venom shot so we'll just have to wait and see. Oliver, have you seen Edgar lately? The reason I ask is because I overheard that Loman's place got hit just like we did. If you see Edgar, could you ask him to fly over there and come back with a report? I'd ask you to do it but I'd rather have you here."
"I know where Edgar nests. I could go see if he's there, and if so, ask him. It would take ten minutes tops to get there and back. But Buck, what good would it do to know? I think we would be better served to just protect our own turf. Let Loman deal with his own problem."
"I guess you’re right. This thing with Cassie has me not on top of my game."
"Go back to the house, Buck, I know that's where you want to be. I'll handle things here."
As I walked back toward the house there was no spring in my step. Hard, dark thoughts bounced around inside my head. My confidence was shot. And I thought that if I heard that she had died, I would run, and run, and run and never come back. I stopped, lay on the ground, and bawled. I really didn't care who heard. Then a quiet voice whispered, "Be strong Buck, scare them but not so much that they run away." I got up and continued walking, but only slightly more resolutely.