Blue Collar Blues by Rosalyn McMillan Read Free Book Online Page A

set up to breed studs. A horse breeder’s primary business was to use his stud’s talents by impregnating mares for a large fee. Apparently R.C. was more ambitious than most. He owned two top thoroughbreds: Reverse Richard and Oxford’s Fool. Both were the foals of recently retired Triple Crown winners. Their stud fee was fifty thousand dollars. One prize stud could accommodate over one hundred mares in a season. Since he became the sole owner of the Paris farm eleven years earlier, borrowing money from his old buddy Oxford, he’d told her he’d purchased five broodmares for his private use. He planned on racing the two-year-olds sired by his own studs in Japan. It was clear to Tomiko that between the horses and the car dealerships, R.C. couldn’t help but make loads of money.
    “It’s bad, R.C. The birth is breech. The mare is straining real bad. You could lose both the mare and the foal.”
    Wrapping the sheet around her, Tomiko jumped from the bed and threw on her clothes. “Is the foal early?”
    “Yes.”
    Caleb explained to them that the regular veterinarian was out of town and his office was sending his replacement.
    Within minutes, they were at the stable door, roughly three hundred feet from the main house.
    Standing sixteen hands high, Wicked Widow was a black beauty. Her coat the color of expensive black mink, the horse was a testament to her pedigree. The Wicked in her name was an allusion to her temperament.
    “We can’t just watch her die,” Tomiko said, alarmed. “She’s suffering.”
    “Where the hell is the vet on call?” R.C. asked as he paced the floor outside the stall.
    Caleb shrugged nervously as he tried to calm the mare. “He was on his way over an hour ago. Shoulda been here by now. It’s nearly six A.M.”
    “Can I help?” Tomiko asked.
    No one paid her any attention.
    “Don’t worry,” Tomiko said, easing into the stall and dropping to her knees, “I know what to do.”
    R.C. looked frantic. “What if the foal doesn’t make it?”
    Tomiko wasn’t sure whether R.C. was worried about the mare or his financial investment. She tried to think about what her stepfather would do at this moment. She knew that the mare was a side issue, and that she had to focus on delivering the foal. Once the foal was taken care of, then her stepfather would tend to the mare.
    “Let me help you,” Caleb said to Tomiko.
    Tomiko stroked the mare’s neck. “You can hold the mare steady while I turn the foal around.” She eased down on the bank of hay to lie next to the horse. Tense minutes passed as Tomiko worked feverishly with the mare, her hands up the birth canal.
    For a moment, she locked eyes with R.C. They both understood that Tomiko was fighting to save the foal’s life. It was going to be the mother or the child. There was no way they would both live.
    When the mare began to groan and kick, R.C. looked away. Seconds later, when the mare’s screams heightened, he turned back again. “What’s taking that damn doctor so long?” R.C. snapped at Caleb.
    “He’s already too late.” Caleb’s jaw muscles flexed as he struggled to hold the mare’s head still. “There now, girl. Hold steady now,” he said as he watched Tomiko work inside her.
    Wicked Widow strained and trembled, her movements becoming increasingly restless. She groaned and convulsed in severe pain. Her shiny coat was swathed with sweat.
    “You should leave, R.C.,” Tomiko whispered. “You’re scaring her.” Her arms were coated with blood and she could see both fear and disgust in R.C.’s eyes. “This is your first birth, isn’t it?” she asked him.
    R.C. didn’t bother to answer. At this moment, his clothes were soaked clear through.
    What difference did it make now? she thought. The foal was almost here. He would either faint or leave. She pushed away her own disgust at her husband’s reaction to his beloved horse.
    And just as the sun rose on that early spring morning, a beautiful black foal was born,