Eli headed for the side of the barn where she kept a lot of her supplies. Mixing up a bottle, she shook it as she walked toward the stall.
“Here, calfy calfy calfy,” she called.
Inside stood her tiny little calf, already working his way into her heart. Eli stepped inside and settled against the wall. She squeezed a little bit of the formula onto the end of the nipple so the calf could smell it. It didn’t take too much longer for the calf to latch on and give a good suck.
“Perfect,” Eli muttered in praise. She held onto the bottle hard, knowing that as the calf figured out what was coming out, the sucks would become more and more powerful. She patted the calf’s head and praised him even more as the minutes ticked by. Going out in the night had been worth it for sure.
* * *
Sarah had seen the headlights in the distance come back from the fields and stop at the barn. Her throat constricted with nerves as she watched Eli grab something and bring it inside. Curious, Sarah squinted to try and see what was going on, but she couldn’t make it out.
She stared at the door to her room before making a rash decision. She hadn’t left the house all day, and she needed to get out. The snow was beautiful and didn’t look to be falling too heavily, and she knew the path to the barn, thanks to Eli walking that way earlier. It would be a perfect excuse.
Grabbing her jacket, Sarah flung it over her shoulders while she dipped her bare toes into her boots. She turned the lights on in the house as she went through it to the main floor then out the back door by the kitchen. She smiled as the snowflakes kissed her cheeks and her eyelashes. It was almost a perfect night.
She made her way to where she’d seen Eli disappear earlier that day. One part of her wanted to turn around and go back to hiding in her room while the other part told her to keep trudging forward. She listened to the quieter but more adventurous side of her brain.
She was stepping as well as she could, but it was hard to make out where she was going, especially considering she hadn’t walked that way before. She slipped on one particularly steep part of the incline and landed on her ass and her hand. Cursing, Sarah groaned and looked from the barn to the house. She was about halfway there. She could do this.
Gnawing on her lip, Sarah pushed herself up, her toes curling in her leather boots as she took the next step, being far more careful now. She reached the bottom of the hill and felt much better being on even and flat ground. As she reached the partially open door to the barn, she pushed her way inside and immediately covered her nose. It smelled like something else inside, a mix of sweat and shit, literal shit.
Fluorescent lights hung from the ceiling, which helped her to see. She searched around for Eli but didn’t find her anywhere. With her lip planted firmly between her teeth, she regretted taking the risk to come down there. A dark black horse snorted at her as she walked by, and Sarah grabbed the edges of her jacket and pulled them tighter around her as she stepped around the horse.
“What are you doing down here?”
Eli’s voice made her jump, the accusation in her tone running deep. Sarah spun to her side and stared into Eli’s angry eyes. Her lips parted in surprise, and she wasn’t sure what to say or do. All she knew was she wanted to run the opposite direction.
“I...I’m sorry. I’ll go.”
“No.” Eli reached out but didn’t touch Sarah before she jerked her hand back. “No, I’m sorry. You just scared the crap out of me.”
“I scaredyou?” Sarah’s voice wobbled, because truthfully, Eli had scared her more than anything even though she’d been the one to show up unannounced.
“Yes. I don’t usually have people coming into my barn in the middle of the night unless they’re up to no good.”
“D-does that happen often?”
“Only when the mischief-makers in town get the wrong idea, but this place is usually far enough out they don’t bother me much. Was there something you needed?” Eli sighed.
Sarah shook her head. “No. I uh...I saw you bring something in and was curious what you were doing.”
“You saw from the house?”
Sarah nodded.
Eli eyed her suspiciously. “I brought a calf in. Mom rejected it.”
“What?” Sarah’s eyes widened.
“It happens, especially with first time moms. I’ll try to reunite them tomorrow and the next day, but if that doesn’t work, then I’ll end up keeping it here and bottle feeding it.”
Sarah turned to look around the large barn. She’d never been in one before. She’d seen videos and whatnot, but she’d never actually stepped into a real working barn before. “C-can I see it?”
“Sure. Tomorrow, if you want and Carmen still rejects it, you can feed it too. It’ll give me a break.”
“Like with a bottle?”
Eli snorted. “Well, I don’t expect you to whip out your boob to nurse it.”