3 #3
Nolwenn goes to the milking parlor to fetch some water in a basin, while Louane opens the room's cupboard and takes out a can of shaving foam and a bright pink manual razor.
They spread the young cow’s hind legs, dampen her beautiful red coat, then apply the foam and shave her with precision.
In just a few strokes, she is hairless, revealing a lovely pink vulva.
Louane is already preparing a plastic snap-fastened pant with two anatomical diapers inside; she slides it under the young cow’s still-sleeping rump, then closes it and fastens the snaps.
She picks up the third Jersey-style bodysuit—ordered for Sarah and just arrived—since the two cows have roughly the same build.
Louane will order her own suits tomorrow.
The two women slip the bodysuit onto Abbie, then strap her front legs to the changing table.
Louane: "Now we just have to wait for her to wake up. It could happen tonight, but it’s more likely we’ll find her awake tomorrow morning."
The two women close the changing room door behind them and head back up to the living room. Lo?c has already left; Gwendal has turned on the computer to monitor the girls' work.
Louane pretends to be scandalized.
Louane: "I can understand Nolwenn eyeing our new Jersey cow with such relish, but you, Gwendal—I’m shocked!"
Everyone laughs.
Nolwenn: "I’m not necessarily a fan of redheads, but you have to admit that Abbie is very charming and her long red hair is spectacular."
With these thoughts in mind, Nolwenn heads home; she has to leave early the next morning for a collection run before delivering to the university hospital, followed by her usual morning shift at the clinic.
Louane keeps an eye on Abbie via the camera in the changing room until midnight, but the girl is still asleep. There will be time to get to know her better tomorrow morning.
It is Saturday, and a busy day lies ahead.
Gwendal is going to tend to his animals but has no other work planned for the day so he can get some rest.
Louane is responsible for Abbie, though the couple knows that, in all likelihood, Lo?c should be delivering two new cows today; he had made it clear he had until Saturday to capture them.
Right from breakfast, Louane sees on her computer that Abbie is awake—she can see her struggling on the changing table and, even with the volume turned down, can hear her shouting in English.
She hears Nolwenn’s car pulling into the yard.
The young woman plans to move her bed and the rest of her belongings over the next two days, but she is up early—eager, like the others, to meet this new Jersey cow.
Louane welcomes her into the kitchen.
Louane: "It’s only 6:45 on a Saturday; let’s take the time for a good coffee before we start our day."
Nolwenn agrees and savors the double espresso Louane serves her. The young couple had splurged on a high-end Swiss coffee machine that grinds the beans fresh for every cup.
Once they’ve finished their coffee, the two women head down to the barn and find Abbie—who is furious and deeply anxious—strapped to that odd table, decked out in a cow suit with a diaper underneath.
The shelves of diapers built into the partition separating the room from Sarah’s stall certainly aren't doing much to reassure her.
Without answering the young Englishwoman’s questions, Louane fastens the collar—complete with bell and GPS tracker—around her neck, then lowers the changing table.
Like the cows before her, the young Englishwoman finds herself unable to plant a hind leg firmly on the ground.
Louane helps her onto all fours and guides her to her stall.
She places her in the third stall on the right, next to Alma’s, and closes the gate behind her.
The two women move on to changing the other four cows and then milking them, as all four are now producing milk.
Back in their respective stalls, each cow has two large bottles of milk at her disposal; Abbie gets the same treatment.
Hearing her cries, the four cows quickly realize a new companion has just arrived in the barn.
Louane and Nolwenn head back upstairs for another coffee while a lively exchange takes place between the veterans and the newcomer.
Just to be thorough, Louane checks the summary of the conversation on her app, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary.
Through the answers she receives, Abbie is discovering her new status as a dairy cow.
When they are in the barn—and not wearing the bits that prevent them from speaking—the cows talk amongst themselves a great deal.
They are convinced that active searches are underway following their disappearances and seem relatively confident that the police will eventually find them.
They also discuss the possibility of escape, though nothing concrete seems to come of these conversations.
They know they were all kidnapped from a fairly small geographic area, and this reassures them; they believe the sheer number of disappearances is bound to trigger a massive search operation.
They have time to chat, knowing they won’t be heading out to the paddock until this afternoon.
Once they’ve finished their coffee, Nolwenn goes to unload the boxes from her car trunk and unpack her things in her new living quarters.
Louane heads downstairs to clear away the empty cereal bottles and refill the water ones.
Abbie’s cereal bottle is put in the fridge since she didn’t touch it.
She comes back up and finds Nolwenn, who offers to make lunch; Louane happily accepts.
Nolwenn: "I’ve got a surprise for you, too."
Nolwenn hands Louane a box. She opens it to find—carefully wrapped in bubble wrap—the personalized wooden plaques meant for the stall doors.
Nolwenn has painted the names in large, colorful letters; beneath each name, she painted the corresponding national flag, with the breed name right next to it. It looks magnificent.
Nolwenn: "I haven't had time to make Abbie's yet, but I’ll get right on it so she doesn't get jealous."
She also brought the leftovers from her fridge and is putting together a "throw-everything-in" salad—a rice-based dish packed with various small leftover bits. Louane suggests it will go perfectly with some fruit from the garden for lunch; she has some beautiful peaches right now.
Louane’s phone signals an incoming message. She checks it, recognizing the specific ringtone she assigned to Lo?c’s number.
Louane: "Lo?c confirms that Isla and Freja are arriving this afternoon. It’s a good thing Gwendal finished the new stalls in time."
Louane tells Gwendal, who is reading on the terrace, that two new cows are arriving this afternoon.
He is delighted and echoes Louane’s sentiment, noting that he was right to finish the three new stalls so quickly.
Louane then shows him Nolwenn’s creations; Gwendal thinks the nameplates are magnificent.
Gwendal: "I’m not going to drill screw holes into such beautiful plates. I’ll mount them from the inside of the door so I don’t spoil these superb creations."
Nolwenn: "Beyond the plaques, I think we also need to showcase this already beautiful barn. If I were a couple considering buying a calf, I’d want to be sure the cow enjoys every comfort and a lovely environment throughout her pregnancy.
Louane’s choice to have them wear blankets really helps with that; the pasture is superb, and now we need to attend to every detail to put potential couples at ease about using our service."
Louane: "You’re absolutely right, Nolwenn. If we can secure a private website properly, I’d even thought about letting the client couple watch the cow carrying their calf in real-time—for the sake of transparency."
Nolwenn: "If that’s technically feasible, it would certainly be a major selling point."
Gwendal: "In the meantime, these plaques look great; I’m going to go install them right away."
Nolwenn: "I’ll take care of Abbie’s plaque myself; otherwise, she’ll get jealous pretty quickly."
Louane: "If all goes well, you’ll have two more to make, but we’ll wait until they arrive. Lo?c didn’t specify a time this afternoon, but I suppose he couldn't be any more precise. We’re here, and he’s doing the hard work on his end for now."
Once Gwendal has left to put up the plaques, Louane points out to Nolwenn that with seven cows, they’ll likely have enough options to start offering their cows for breeding to couples longing for a calf.
Nolwenn agrees. Louane is particularly eager because milk doesn’t bring in much money—especially for Lo?c—and she wants to be able to hand him more substantial sums soon, which will only come from selling the calves.
However, Nolwenn is worried about the financial side of things; it’s impossible to get paid officially by check or bank transfer for this type of transaction.