Kate and Pim supervised the children making mud pies while Caleb went to check on the horses. He’d built an open-sided shelter on the far side of the paddock to give them cover from the weather, and that was where he found them now. Handsome seemed none the worse for wear, but Jeb was breathing hard and showing the whites of his eyes. He was also holding his left rear hoof off the ground. The horse let him bend the joint long enough for Caleb to see a small puncture wound in the raised central structure of the hoof. Something long and sharp was stuck in there. He walked to the shed and returned with a halter, needle-nosed pliers, and a rope. He was fixing Jeb’s halter when he saw Kate coming his way.
“He doesn’t look so happy.”
“Got a pricker in his hoof.”
“Could you use an extra set of hands?”
He was fine on his own, but the woman’s sudden interest in helping out wasn’t anything he was going to say no to. “The ropes should hold him. Just keep a hand on his halter.”
Kate gripped the leather near the horse’s mouth. “He looks sick. Should he be breathing like that?”
Caleb was crouched at the rear of the animal. “You’re the doctor—you tell me.”
He lifted the horse’s foot. With his other hand, he angled the pliers to the wound. There wasn’t much to grab hold of. As the tips made contact, the animal shoved his weight backward, whinnying and tossing his head.
“Keep him still, damn it!”
“I’m trying!”
“He’s a horse, Kate. Show him who’s boss.”
“What do you want me to do, slug him?”
Jeb was having none of it. Caleb left the shelter and returned with a length of three-quarter-inch chain, which he ran through the halter, up and over the horse’s nose. He tightened the chain against Jeb’s jaw and gave the ends to Kate.
“Hold this,” he said. “And don’t be nice.”
Jeb didn’t like it, but the chain worked. Caught in the tips of the pliers, the offending article slowly emerged. Caleb held it up in the light. About two inches long, it was made of a rigid, nearly translucent material, like the bone of a bird.
“Some kind of thorn, I guess,” he said.
The horse had relaxed somewhat but was still breathing rapidly. Flecks of spittle hung from the corners of his mouth; his neck and flanks were glossed with sweat. Caleb washed the hoof with water from a bucket and poured iodine into the wound. Handsome was lingering near the shelter, watching them cautiously. While Kate held the halter, Caleb sheathed the hoof in a leather sock and secured it with twine. There wasn’t much else he could do at this point. He’d leave the animal tied up for the night and see how he was in the morning.
“Thanks for your help.”
The two of them were standing at the door of the shed; the light was just about gone.
“Look,” Kate said finally, “I know I haven’t been especially good company these days.”
“It’s fine, forget it. Everybody understands.”
“You don’t need to be nice about it, Caleb. We’ve known each other too long.”
Caleb said nothing.
“Bill was an asshole. Okay, I get that.”
“Kate, we don’t have to do this.”
She didn’t seem angry, merely resigned. “I’m just saying I know what everybody thinks. And they’re not wrong. People don’t even know the half of it, actually.”
“So why did you marry him?” Caleb was surprised at himself; the question had just popped out. “Sorry, that was a little direct.”
“No, it’s a fair question. Believe me, I’ve asked it myself.” A moment passed; then she brightened a little. “Did you know that when Pim and I were kids we used to have fights over who would get to marry you? I’m talking physical fights—slapping, hair pulling, the whole thing.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Don’t look so happy, I’m surprised one of us didn’t end up in the hospital. One time, I stole her diary? I think I was thirteen. God, I was such a little shit. There was all this stuff in there about you. How good-looking you were, how smart you were. Both your names with a big fat heart drawn around them. It was just disgusting.”
Caleb found the thought hilarious. “What happened?”
“What do you think? She was older, the fights weren’t exactly fair.” Kate shook her head and laughed. “Look at you. You love this.”
It was true, he did. “It’s a funny story. I never knew about any of it.”