Read Online A Hopeful Heart by Kim Vogel Sawyer - Free Book Online Page A

Luella on the ground, and her hands lingered on his shoulders. Vince grinned and offered Luella his elbow. With another high-pitched giggle, she slipped her hand into the curve of his arm and sashayed along beside him as they led the way to the barn.
    Tressa shifted her gaze from Luella and the angular cowboy to the waiting barn. She found its massive size astounding. Constructed of rough-cut tan stones and towering two stories high, it dwarfed the barn on Mrs. Wyatt’s property. Doors yawned wide in the arched opening at the front as if offering an invitation to enter. Tressa released a little shiver as she stepped from the sun into the cool, shadowed interior of the huge structure. Although this barn was at least triple the size of the Mrs. Wyatt’s barn, the smells were the same—musty hay, musky animals, and moist soil. Tressa put her finger under her nose to stave off a sneeze.
    Staying close to Mrs. Wyatt, she followed the others to a stall about halfway down on the east side. Vince removed Luella’s hand from his arm with a dapper bow and entered the stall. Mrs. Wyatt put her hand on Tressa’s back and propelled her to the edge of the stall. Tressa rested her fingertips on the highest rail and peered over the top at a tawny brown cow. It lay on its side with its neck arched and legs stretched straight out. Pieces of hay clung to its head and nose, tempting Tressa to climb over the rails and brush the bits away.
    Vince hunkered beside the beast and placed his hand on the cow’s bulging stomach. He grinned up at the row of girls. “See how big her belly looks? That’s not all baby. She’s holdin’ her breath, which means she’s in the middle of a birthin’ pain.”
    Tressa’s stomach muscles tightened in compassionate response to the cow’s discomfort.
    Vince went on. “Her water bag ruptured right before you got here. Won’t be long now, an’ we’ll see some little feet come through the canal.”
    “Feet?” Mabelle squeaked the word and then clapped her hand over her mouth.
    Vince chuckled. “Yep, feet. We wanna see feet an’ then a nose. Sometimes calves’re born rump first, but that’s awful hard on the mama. So we need to be hopin’ for a nose instead.”
    The cow huffed, lifting her head slightly. She released a low moo and pawed the air with her front hooves. Tressa took an involuntary step backward while the others pressed forward.
    Vince propped one hand against the ground, tipping his head toward the cow’s rear quarters. “Uh-huh, here we go!”
    Two tiny hooves appeared. Luella climbed onto the lowest rail and leaned into the stall, her eyes wide and mouth forming an O of wonder. Sallie sent a grin over her shoulder. “I seen my share of birthin’s when I worked for the dairyman, but it’s an amazin’ thing to watch. Are ye wantin’ to come up, Tressa?”
    Tressa shook her head wildly, and Sallie shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She clambered up beside Luella. Paralee gasped, reaching for Mabelle’s hand. Mabelle caught hold, and the two clung. Tressa swallowed. She wished she could hold someone’s hand. Mrs. Wyatt stood near. Without turning her gaze from the laboring cow, Tressa reached blindly. Her fingers encountered a hand, and she grabbed hold.
    At first the fingers lay loose within her grasp, but when the cow mooed again—louder and more panicked—Tressa squeezed, and the fingers curved securely around her hand. The touch offered a measure of comfort, and she clung hard while she watched the birth. A white nose followed the hooves. The cow moaned again, and the calf ’s head emerged.
    Tressa held her breath, her fingers squeezing hard on Mrs. Wyatt’s hand while the cow bawled in complaint. Suddenly the calf ’s wet, slick body wriggled through the opening in a rush and sprawled in the hay. It thrashed its spindly legs, nosing the ground. The mother staggered to her feet and circled the baby. She began licking it, and the calf folded its legs underneath itself. It