Read Online The Bride Wore Spurs (The Inconvenient Bride Series, Book 1) by Sharon Ihle - Free Book Online Page A

please?"
    Just then, with a considerable amount of effort and a deep, miserable groan, again Taffy took to her feet. That was enough for Hawke to make up his mind. Glancing briefly toward the spyhole he'd drilled directly above each foaling stall, he shrugged slightly, then turned his attention back to Lacey. "All right. You can stay, but you've got to do exactly what I tell you."
    "Aye, sir!" She could hardly contain her excitement. "And I'll not be in your way 'tall."
    "We'll see." Grumbling to himself, Hawke spun around and walked back over to his mare.
    Watching as he fit the halter over the head of the distressed animal, Lacey quietly let herself inside the stall. Taffy, she noticed, seemed to be having difficulty breathing and her engorged sides were heaving in a most uncomfortable-looking manner. After a moment, and speaking in a more gentle, caring voice than she'd ever heard him use, Hawke gave her his first instruction.
    "Come here; Lacey. I want you to hold Taffy just like this."
    Quicker than a hare, she was at his side. Then, following his lead, she slipped her hand between the halter and the horse's huge round cheek, and clamped her fingers tightly around the leather straps.
    "Hold her still if you can and talk to her in the most gentle way imaginable." Dragging his hand across her damp coat, Hawke slowly walked alongside Taffy's heaving body until he'd reached her hindquarters. Then he issued a few more instructions. "Make her feel like she can trust you and that everything is going to be all right. I'm going to examine her now, and I don't want her getting upset or excited. Understand?"
    Watching Hawke with one eye and the mare with the other, Lacey said, "Aye, and she'll not be having a worry from this nurse. 'Tis Kathleen Lacey O'Carroll come to save you from the trouble of bringing your babe into the world, lass. 'Twill be over before you know it." Wincing as she saw Hawke's arm disappear inside the horse, Lacey went on with her babble, segueing into an old Irish lullaby.
    His examination complete, Hawke cursed under his breath as he said to Lacey, "Christ almighty, no wonder she's having so much trouble. One of the foal's legs is caught behind her pelvic bone. How's she doing up there?"
    Staying in tune with the lullaby, Lacey sang her answer. "The lass's eyes are closed and her bottom lip is hanging down. I do believe the poor dear has fallen asleep. Imagine dozing whilst I've been feedin' her up with false music."
    Hawke knew better than that, but he kept the information to himself; Taffy was exhausted, not sleeping, and probably dying to boot. If he was going to save either of them he had to dislodge the foal immediately, even if it meant breaking its leg. Slipping his hand back inside the birth canal, he gave Lacey another order. "What I've got to do now will hurt her a little and she might bolt, so don't stand directly in front of her. Keep singing the way you are, and whatever you do, don't cry out or startle her."
    "Do not give another thought to me or the lassie," she sang in a gay Irish lilt, even though the force of Hawke's manipulations caused the mare to wobble forward, nearly falling. Her eyes wide with both fright and fascination as she watched the struggle to bring the foal into the world, Lacey went on singing, this time tossing in a few sayings in the middle of the lullaby.
    "Oh, the south wind is soft and mild; a good wind for the seeds, but the north wind is cold, bone-chilling in your Wyoming. 'Tis a good thing, this wind, for when it blows, the darlin' wee horse puppies are born."
    With a dull "pop" followed by a loud sucking sound, the foal's leg finally cleared the pelvic bone, allowing the animal to move along the birth canal and break through the birth sack with its head. With a final contraction, the foal shot none too gracefully into its owner's waiting arms. Staggering under the newborn's weight for a moment, Hawke fell to his knees and eased the slippery animal down into the