Chapter 18 Hailey
HAILEY
Hailey stood at the window of the big house, watching the snow fall outside.
This was her first night sleeping at the big house instead of the little cottage, and it was comforting to think that if she got snowed in, at least she would have plenty of projects to work on here.
She was already busy planning Caspian and Regina’s party, and Caspian probably hadn’t even made it home yet.
She had a handwritten list of ideas for him and she had been cataloguing everything else she wanted to do in the big house to see if it would be possible to offer them bedrooms for other guests to stay in, not just the two of them.
A particularly heavy gust of wind rattled the window sash and the draft was strong enough to lift her hair.
“Wow,” she said to herself, heading to the kitchen to see what she could do about dinner.
After years in the city, she had forgotten about drafty windows and the need to dig out after a storm. She was pretty sure she had spotted a shovel in the barn earlier this week.
Before she even made it to the kitchen, the windows rattled again and the power went out with a pop.
“Not again,” she whispered.
But it was no big deal Hailey decided. She wasn’t going to bother Ransom in the middle of a snowstorm. And she was pretty sure there were flashlights in the barn and maybe even a propane heater.
“Here we go,” she told herself, using her phone flashlight to guide her through the house.
She pulled on her boots and a coat, willing herself not to get freaked out by the darkness. Living this far off the beaten path, it was only natural that the power might go out from time to time. She was just going to have to get used to it.
The door practically blew off its hinges when she opened it. She had to cling to the handle to keep it from banging against the side of the house.
Closing it carefully, she reminded herself that this wasn’t a race. She could take her time getting to the barn and back.
It’s okay to have a snowy adventure.
Ducking her head against the wind and driving snow, she plodded up the drive to the big red barn. The snow was already up to her ankles and the rush of the wind so strong that she couldn’t hear her footsteps.
It’s a good thing I have a shovel, she thought to herself.
The walk took much longer than the usual few minutes, and she was panting and shivering at the same time by the time she got to the barn. The door was already slightly open. She must not have latched it the last time she was out here, or maybe the wind had just blown it open anyway.
The inside of the barn was so dark that she could hardly see, even with the phone flashlight. She took a few steps in and shone the light around until she saw the shovel hanging on the wall. There was also a propane heater and what she hoped was a full tank of propane.
“Okay,” she said to herself. “I just have to find the flashlights and figure out how to carry all this…”
A sound came from the back of the barn, a rustle followed by a groan.
“Hello?” Hailey said softly.
She instantly wished she hadn’t spoken. This was getting to be more like a horror movie every minute.
Her instincts told her to grab as much as she could carry and get out again. But this was her home now, her property. And if something or someone had gotten into the barn…
Her feet carried her deeper into the darkened space before she could talk herself out of it. The weak light from her phone was swallowed up by the darkness and she could only see the wooden floor planks a few feet ahead of her.
When she had nearly hit the back wall, she heard another groan. Swinging the flashlight to the corner, she spotted what had been making the noises and immediately regretted her decision to investigate.
A massive black German shepherd dog lay on its side on the floor, its swollen belly rippling.
Terror shot through Hailey, and she was paralyzed once again.
But when the big animal’s eyes lifted to her, the expression on its face was so clearly one of fear and pleading that it may as well have been a human person begging her for help.
“Are you hurt?” she heard herself ask softly as she moved closer, her feet unfrozen as her fear took a back seat to her compassion.
The dog closed its eyes again and its belly clenched with another ripple of movement, and then small shapes pressed against its fur from the inside.
“Oh,” Hailey said, suddenly understanding. She probably would have known what was happening immediately if she hadn’t been so scared. “You’re going to have babies.”
Her fear shrunk even more at the idea of this living creature giving birth here.
She moved to the poor animal’s side and lowered herself to the floor. The wooden planks were so cold that it was almost painful to sit on them.
“I’m so sorry, little mama,” she told the dog. “I know this isn’t a nice place to have your babies.”
The thick black tail thumped once against the floor, as if the dog knew she was with a friend now.
Hailey grabbed her phone and pulled up Ransom’s contact, but the call wouldn’t go through.
She pulled it away from her face and looked at the screen.
No service.
That’s okay, she told herself. You’re just going to have to handle this on your own.
She expected to fall to pieces, but instead she found herself feeling very, very calm.
Hopping back to her feet, she used her phone flashlight to scan the barn.
There was an old canvas feedbag nearby. She grabbed it, shaking the dust off it before looking around a little more.
The only other thing she could find of use was a couple of rags by the toolbox.
She grabbed them and hurried back to the dog, whose belly was rippling again.
“It’s okay,” Hailey said as soothingly as she could. “You’re doing really well.”
It was kind of a shame that her only experience with childbirth was the scenes she’d acted in on Ridley Hospital.
Most of them had consisted of a lot of encouraging talk, ending with an exclamation of he’s beautiful.
She was pretty sure all that was going to be useless here.
But she definitely knew it was too cold in the barn, and anything she could do to help with that would be a good idea.
That means I have to touch her, a little voice whispered fearfully in the back of her head. But somehow, the voice seemed small and far away.
Hailey focused on the dog’s face and reminded herself of those soulful eyes.
When the poor creature’s belly had stilled again, Hailey took a deep breath and placed her phone, flashlight up, on the floor beside her.
“I need to make you more comfy,” she told the animal. “Okay?”
The dog looked up at her with a placid expression.
Holding her breath, Hailey reached out to lift the warm, black head and slide a rag under it to keep the mama’s cheek from the frigid floor. As she did, the golden charm on the dog’s collar caught the dim light from the flashlight.
“Henrietta,” Hailey read. “That’s a nice name.”
She vaguely remembered Ransom and the kids talking about one of the dogs expecting a litter.
He didn’t really talk about the dogs with her.
She had been thankful not to be reminded of them, but now she found herself wishing she knew more about them—at least about this one, and how she might help the poor creature get through this ordeal.
Henrietta’s tail gave another flop and then she whined as her belly rippled again.
A moment later, a gush of fluid spilled onto the planks, and Henrietta breathed heavily as she expelled a fist-sized water balloon with a tiny black furry something inside.
“Oh, you did it,” Hailey told her proudly. “Look at that.”
Henrietta leaned up and licked at the little bubble full of puppy, but she didn’t break the clear sac that surrounded the pup.
“That’s not good,” Hailey realized out loud. “We have to get her out of there.”
Henrietta kept licking, but the baby remained in her sac.
“Listen,” Hailey said. “I know you don’t want me to touch your baby, but we have to get her out.”
Henrietta paid no mind to Hailey, but rested her head back on the floor as her belly rippled again.
Gingerly, Hailey reached down and stroked one finger against the sac.
Henrietta didn’t react.
Taking a deep breath, Hailey used her fingernails to rip open the sac and release the baby’s face.
Henrietta took an interest again, and when Hailey leaned back, the mama licked off her baby and helped her all the way out.
The pup was unthinkably small—her ears were tiny and her eyes were closed.
But in spite of her puny size, the tiny thing belly-crawled to its mama and began to root around for her first meal.
“Oh, my goodness,” Hailey sighed, overcome by the miracle of this new and tiny life. “What a good mother you are.”
Her hand was stroking the smooth fur on Henrietta’s head before she realized what she was doing.
Then that big belly was rippling again and Hailey prepared herself for the next baby to arrive.
The time passed quickly and slowly all at once.
After the first birth, Hailey set up the little propane heater. Then she waited, and helped as best she could as Henrietta brought her little family into the world.
Hailey watched the brave mama dog as her three tiny pups nursed.
She had placed the empty feedbag under them, to keep the pups from direct contact with the floor, but the temperature was steadily dropping, and the propane was running out.
“Your babies are so tiny,” she told Henrietta worriedly. “And it’s too cold in here.”
But what was she supposed to do? She couldn’t carry them all, and she certainly couldn’t drive in this weather.
The mama’s belly was blessedly still now, but that didn’t necessarily mean that more pups weren’t on the way.
“I’ll just have a look around in here,” Hailey told her new friend. “You keep your babies warm.”
She searched the whole barn, wishing there were a big sled or even a door off its hinges that she could use to drag the little family to Ransom’s.
But the only other thing she found was a small wooden crate. She dusted it off and brought it back to Henrietta, who was nosing at her babies.
Gingerly, Hailey reached out to stroke the big dog’s belly.
Henrietta didn’t seem to mind, so Hailey explored her furry tummy gently for a few minutes, searching for anything that would tell her that more puppies would be arriving.
“I think you’re all finished,” Hailey ventured. “Do you feel like you could walk?”
But obviously the big dog couldn’t answer. Her tail thumped the boards again though, and she cocked her head at Hailey like she was listening.
Hailey tried to imagine what it would be like to give birth to triplets and then walk through a snowstorm.
But if they didn’t leave now, her phone battery would run out. And she wasn’t convinced she could find her way to Ransom’s without the light.
Deciding that it was time for action, she got up and peeled off her coat.
The cold of the barn instantly sank into her and she tried not to imagine what it was going to be like outside without it. But the puppies needed it more than she did.
She shoved it in the wooden crate with the soft inner fleece side up, still warm from her own body heat, and placed it next to Henrietta.
Fear shot through her again for the first time in hours.
How can I take her tiny babies from her? What if she attacks me?
“Henrietta,” she said softly, trying her best not to let her voice shake. “We need to get your babies to Ransom so he can help them and keep them warm. But that means I have to pick them up.”
Henrietta stayed where she was, her face resting on the old feedbag.
“Okay,” Hailey said. “Here we go.”
She reached out and stroked one of the babies with her index finger, keeping her eyes on the mama.
Henrietta didn’t even look up.
But when Hailey lifted the baby away from her mama, it let out a plaintive little cry and Henrietta lifted her head.
“We have to get your babies someplace warm,” Hailey told her firmly.
When she placed the baby in the crate, Henrietta lifted herself partly up.
“Okay,” Hailey said, quickly moving the second pup and then the third into the crate. All three whimpered pitifully.
Henrietta lifted the first pup in her mouth and was trying to put her back on the floor.
“Henrietta,” Hailey said. “We need help. We have to get someplace warm. Can I have your baby again?”
Henrietta set the baby on the floor at her belly and Hailey carefully lifted it up again and placed it in the crate.
Before Henrietta could grab another pup, Hailey picked up the crate of babies and folded the sides of her coat loosely on top of them. Hopefully, they could keep fairly warm in there for the trip to Ransom’s.
“Let’s head out,” she said bravely, leaning down to scoop up her phone.
Henrietta was nosing the crate, so Hailey headed off to the barn door, willing the mama to understand that she wasn’t stealing the little ones.
Outside, the air was so full of snow that she could hardly see.
“It’s this way,” she told the big dog. “Let’s go home.”
She moved in the direction of Ransom’s place and the dog moved with her, snout nudging at the crate every few steps so that Hailey had to really hold onto it.
“We’re going to be okay,” she told herself as much as Henrietta. “If you can do this, then I can too.”
But the walk seemed to go on and on forever as the cold sank into her bones and sent her teeth chattering.
Just as she started to get really scared that they were lost, the line of pine trees between the two properties appeared and she could see the triangle of warm light that told her Ransom’s A-frame house was just ahead.
“Okay,” she told Henrietta. “We’re almost there.”
But somehow the last small part of the journey was the hardest. Her skin felt like it was frozen and her arms were aching by the time they reached the porch steps.
“Are you okay?” she asked, turning to Henrietta and worrying that the poor creature might not be able to make it up the steps.
But Henrietta’s tail was sweeping left and right as they climbed up and knocked on Ransom’s front door.
She heard footsteps inside and then the door opened, carrying a draft of warmth and light, and she burst into tears of relief as Ransom gazed down at her, his dark eyes widening.
“Hailey,” he breathed before Henrietta let out a joyful bark.