pencils and tagged along behind Jack and Ed, feeling faintly ridiculous.
The sweet hay smell of the barn was soured by sounds of fear and pain. In a corner pen, theenormous sow paced and squealed. Her eyes were wild, terrified. Two newborn piglets lay a few feetaway from her, tiny and pink, rooting blindly in the straw.
This was the first birth Lily had attended since Mimi’s, and while the mother pig didn’t have ascolorful a vocabulary as Charlotte, the similarities between the two occasions were striking. Lily knew theparty line was that giving birth was a beautiful thing, and she agreed with that sentiment up to a point. Butthe miracle of birth also had a dark, scary side. One only needed to look at the panicking sow and her frailpiglets to remember that all living creatures are born helpless, out of their mother’s fear and pain.
Lily kept her distance and watched the vet do her work.
Jack began by scrubbing her hands in the basin of hot water Ed had provided. She nodded towardthe sow. “Now, Ed, this un’s named Minnie, right?”
He nodded.
“I like how you name all your livestock, Ed,” she said, climbing into the pen. “It makes it easierwhen I’ve got somethin’ to call ’em.” She leaned down so the pig could see her. “Now, Minnie. You takeit easy, ole girl. You’re gonna be just fine.” She looked up at Ed. “Hey, Ed, you got any little treats youcould hand-feed this girl? Food’s better than anesthesia to a pig.”
Ed disappeared and returned shortly with a bowl of sliced apples.
“That oughta do the trick,” Jack said. “Ed, you hold her steady for me. Lily, why don’t you comeover here and feed Minnie some apple? If you’re gonna draw her, you might as well get acquainted withher.”
Lily approached the pen reluctantly. “Uh, what if she bites me?”
Jack laughed. “I can’t believe you’ve got that big monster of a dog at your house, and you’rescared of a pig biting you. Just put the apple in your palm and hold your hand flat. That way she won’t beable to get a hold of your hide.”
My hide? Lily thought, but she did as she was told. Minnie slurped the apple slice off her handgratefully.
While Lily concentrated on the sow’s mouth, Jack squatted down at its opposite end and rolled upthe sleeves of her coveralls. “Keep those apple slices coming, Lily. I’m about to do somethin’ the olegirl’s not gonna appreciate a bit.”
Lily dutifully served up the apple, glad that she was dealing with the preferable end of the pig.
“No wonder that piglet’s stuck, Ed. It’s trying to back out of her.”