Friday dawned, streaks of pink and yellow reflected in the morning waves. I stood, leaning against the wooden siding of my house, until the pale warm tones of dawn began to tinge with the pale blue of early morning.

Today should be the last day that WCC needs me up at the Art Gallery, then my days will go back to their usual pace.

The past week had been a whirlwind. It almost felt a little unreal how busy I’d been. I sighed, relieved that all I had planned this weekend was kayaking with Xander. My phone began to buzz in my pocket. Smiling, I thought of the text from Angie that had started this crazy week. I pulled my phone out to check, and it continued to vibrate in my hand as I did.

3 New Messages from ClaireBear:

Kyyyyyle are u up???

Wake uuuup

Kyyyyyllllleeee

Laughing, I hit the call button and put the phone to my ear.

“Hey Claire, what’s up?”

***

Claire flailed her arms over her head as she jogged towards me. She seemed to be full of limitless energy, as usual, despite the early hour.

“Oh man Kyle, I am so glad you were awake! She’s definitely about to drop a foal, I would just be too nervous without you or Simon here!”

She threw her arms around my neck as I got off my bike, squeezing me a bit too tight, like she always has. Her eyes were gray in the morning mist, but I knew they would appear to change to a steely blue or a sea foam green depending on her surroundings. Her hair, as usual, was pulled into a sensible ponytail to keep it out of those eyes.

“Come on, follow me to the stables.”

I jogged to catch up to her. Despite her diminutive size, her nonstop energy kept her going a mile a minute.

“Calm down a little before we get there, okay? You don’t want her to sense how nervous you are for her.” I slung an arm around her shoulder, attempting to force her to slow her pace a bit as we strode towards the large stables.

Claire’s parents bred and raised horses. They rented out lessons to the locals and trail rides to the tourists, as well as offering stable rental to people who wanted the joy of owning a horse but lacked the room to shelter one. 

The horse in labor right now was one of their own, and Claire’s favorite, Velvet Stockings. A beautiful Arabian, if not slightly small for her breed, she got her namesake from the jet black stocking-like markings from hoof to knee on each leg.

As we approached her stall, I heard the heavy breathing of a mare in labor. I gestured for Claire to comfort her while I held out my hand, flat palmed, to her muzzle.

“Hey girl, hey little Velvet, how are you doing sweetheart?” I crooned softly to the slightly panicked looking mare as I crouched down next to her face. I stroked her damp neck, keeping my voice low and steady as I continued talking to her. “You’ll be okay, pretty girl. Don’t you worry about a thing.”

I looked up and caught Claire’s eye over the horse, her flanks heaving with each contraction.

“Have you checked the position yet? Looks like we’re already well into the second stage of delivery.”

She met my eyes, stroking Velvet’s mane. “Yeah, right before you got here. It’s not a breech.”

“Good, this should be easy enough then. When did she start showing signs?” While we talked quietly, I walked around to her hindquarters. “Also, have you called Uncle Simon yet?”

She grinned at me. “You saying you can’t handle a simple, non-breech foal? I thought you wanted to take over that clinic some day, Kyle.” Laughter danced in her eyes, worry for her favorite horse temporarily dispelled with this opportunity to poke fun at me. “Also, she started pacing late last night, according to the cams… so I’d say at least a few hours.”

“All right, lets go get coffee inside, give her a little room to breathe. We’ll come back out in 10 to 15 and check on her again, okay?”

Absentmindedly, I wondered if I’d have to call Jim to let him know I’d be late as we began our walk to the main house.