Chap. 378 The Operation

Chap. 378 The Operation

“Oh, I wish you’d called me sooner,” the animal healer said in dismay, removing his stethoscope. “Has he lathered up like this for long?”

Sky dozed in the cavern’s aisleway.

“For a while. It’s not from pain, just separation panic. He was separated from his friend, Donal earlier today.” Lorenzo said. He put down the razor he’d used to shave the area around Sky’s swollen eye. “And he’s not my horse. Trust me, if he had been, I’d have had you out as fast as a dragon could bring you.”

“That wouldn’t have worked, I have to have my cart, it has all the instruments I need to do just about anything, from spaying a cat to straightening an unborn calf’s leg.”

“Yes, and he’s got the most beautiful cob pulling it,” Francie said, “He’s a lovely horse, it’s the first cob I’ve ever seen.”

“He is. He was bred by the Wanderers. Those people are incredible horsemen,” the healer said. “So, this horse is herd bound?” he asked, as he put a clean drape on the table the girl had set out for his instruments.

“Very much so. But as you can see, as long as Donal is here, he’s fine.”

“That’s not too unusual. Glaucoma is painful at this late stage, and horses will conflate the pain with danger from predators. Or else they think, I can’t see out of that eye, is a wher sneaking up on me. So they get herd bound, depending on another horse to serve as a warning system. If you noticed, when he’s out in the pasture, he has his blind eye AWAY from the other horses.”

He neatly laid out his surgical instruments, placing them in the order he’d need them. All of them looked menacingly sharp or painful.

Raylan’s mind went to the Wanderers promise of dismembering Yvanna. They’d use tools like this, he thought, dread tinging his thoughts. It’s not me he’s working on! I’m just here to watch. Should I?

“I wondered about that! I thought he’d want the blind eye to be on the side where the other horses are! Why did he do that?” the girl asked.

The healer grinned. “If you notice, herd animals will always have one or two of their mates on watch. That way, they can lay down for a nap, assured that someone is always keeping an eye out for predators. Sky can only see from one side of his head, whereas the other horses have a 360° view. He keeps his good eye on the other horses, knowing they’ll see a wher before he does. He depends on THEIR reactions.”

“Wow, that’s smart!”

“Removing the eye will take the pain away. That’s the best thing for him. He might even work out of his being herd bound, once he’s healed up. That takes, oh, about a month? I’ll stitch him up and come back in two weeks to remove the sutures. “

“I can pull the sutures,” Lorenzo said. “If you don’t mind.”

“I do mind, sir. I like to check my work. Besides, he’s a lovely horse. I want to see him as unblemished as possible.” I pride myself on neat scars, although I doubt anyone notices, the healer thought.

“Thank you. That’s wise.”

“When did he go herd bound?”

“He came here herd bound. He had a pony companion. I didn’t realize he was so bad until I had to put the pony down-colic, you know.”

“Aye, the smaller the pony, the more likely they’ll colic. Or founder.”

“He was little,” the girl offered, “Not much bigger than a big dog.”

“Sky went bonkers losing the pony. He ran off most of his weight, and he’s hard to keep weight on to begin with. He’d pace and call and run the fence line. Francie noticed it and so very generously, volunteered Donal to be his friend. It worked, like that,” he said, snapping his fingers. “He calmed down right away.”

Yeah, as long as Donal is there, Francie thought, stifling her resentment. I don’t remember ‘volunteering’ Donal for what seems is going to be years and years of a herd bound Sky. It just happened. I’m really tired of him, Francie thought.

She was grooming Donal, checking every hair on him to see if Yvanna had inflicted injuries.

These days I can’t ride Donal more than a few meters before Sky starts screaming and running the fenceline. I can’t even go on a nice quiet trail ride without hearing Sky yelling at the top of his lungs for Donal. I wish there was a way to stop it.

She crooned softly to her black bay gelding. “You’re such a good horse, Donal. Thank you for stopping so close that you could hear my whistle. Thank you for bucking Yvanna off. Please don’t try that with me.”

The gelding turned his head and nuzzled her hair.

Raylan watched her interact with Donal. She so loves that horse, he thought. He cost an awful lot, but he’s brought so much to both of us. He’s a member of the family.

Whoa, she thought. Maybe Sky’s calling is why Donal stopped? The Wanderers said she was beating on him, that pig! Maybe I’ve been too hard on Sky. Maybe Donal refused to go any further because he wanted to help him.

The healer set up a sturdy post with a cradle at the top. Lorenzo, without needing prompting, lifted a drowsy Sky’s head into the cradle.

“Aren’t you going to lay him down?” the girl asked.

“No, lass. It’s far better for him to be standing. Trust me, he won’t fall down.”

Sky began to snore.

“Ah, that’s what I want to hear,” the healer said, “Thank you for starting the initial sedation, Lorenzo. It will save me a lot of time. I can go right into the nerve blocks.” The healer picked up a loaded syringe.

“You’re welcome. It’s not my first eye removal,” Lorenzo said.

The healer raised an eyebrow. “You seem to have the two you were born with.”

Everyone laughed. “How long will this take?” the girl asked.

“Well, I don’t like to put a time limit on surgery. I don’t rush myself. Every case is a little different, and you never know if something’s going to go awry, but Sky is being very good, so I’m guessing an hour?” He injected spots all around Sky’s eye.

“I want to watch,” the girl said, “I’m thinking I want to be an animal healer someday.”

The healer smiled. “You might regret that decision, lass, but this is as good a time as any to help you in deciding.”

The healer stepped back to allow the nerve blocks to take effect. He lifted the horse’s upper lip. “Other than the eye, he’s in good condition for his age. His teeth’ve been floated at least once, but I’m guessing he’s in his late twenties?”

“I’m not sure, sir. I think you’re right, I’d guess 26? 28?”

“Aye. Who’s horse is this? Yours, lass?” he asked, hoping he didn’t have to chastise the girl.

“No, sir! I’d never let my horse get so bad. He belongs to a new person. She doesn’t like Sky. She hasn’t been here to see him in weeks,” she said, her tone scathing.

“She should never have allowed him to get this bad. Not that I could have saved the eye, but I could have saved him a lot of pain.”

Lorenzo’s tone was acid. “She just showed up one day, having been hired from who knows where or why. She had him and the pony. She’d not been here more than a week when she pressured me to buy them. I’m not in the business of horse dealing, I refused, never mind she was asking much too much. So she, ahem, “donated” him to Landing, her words, not mine, and I have no idea who to complain to about it. In her mind, that’s absolved her of all responsibility, to include paying for his upkeep. I’ve not seen so much as a coin from her, never mind that she’s never helped with barn chores, which is expected of all horse owners. So, since then, his upkeep is coming out of MY pocket.”

The healer shook his head, wondering if he’d be compensated. Lorenzo saw it.

“Don’t you worry about your fee,” Lorenzo said, “I’m paying for it, one way or another.”

“That’s not right,” Francie said.

“Admin’s Chief needs to hear this,” Raylan said, “I wish you’d brought this to her attention, Lorenzo. I’m sure she’ll see you compensated.”

“I, uh, Raylan, sir, I’m just a barn manager. I don’t want to piss anyone off.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Lorenzo,” Francie said, sharply, “You have all the right to complain. She’s cheating all of us, not just you!”

“Or the horse!”

“It’s not just that, Lorenzo. I know Landing’s good for the bill,” the healer said, relieved. “It’s not that I’m greedy, but there’s not much in the way of barter that Landing can provide me. Things are more and more money related now, and, um, I have a family.”

“I’ll see to it you’re compensated,” Raylan said, “both of you.”

“There’s another thing that pisses me off about the woman,” Francie said. “She has this dog, she lets it roam. It’s against all regulations, Landing’s very strict on one’s pets being neutered and leashed when they’re outside. For instance, your cat must stay in the quarters, no roaming. That’s not too hard to obey, Pern has plenty of predators who just LOVE cat for dinner.

The dog is too big to be attacked. She lets it out to run loose, ‘it just slipped out,’ she’s been heard to say. As if she has no control? It chases the horses when they’re down and rolling, pees on everything to include your leg when it’s not humping it, digs up people’s flower gardens, and is forever trying to sneak into the dining halls. I’ve seen it knock a little kid down to steal whatever it was he was eating. It barks when you come out of your quarters and harasses the person who’s walking their dog on a leash. It’s a bloody nuisance, and mind you, I LIKE dogs.”

“Who is she, that she can get away with not paying or obeying the rules?”

Not wishing to gossip (too much), Raylan said, “She was hired some time ago. I don’t quite know when, as she works in Agriculture, not Science. She’s a, well, let’s just say she has problems with timeliness and responsibility. This is all gossip, mind you. She’s an ‘arborist’. Ordinarily, she would never have made Landing’s standards, but she’s an absolute genius at culturing new strains of plants. For instance, she’s created a hybrid, a cross between lightwood and a native tree that grows fast and can be trained.”

And as soon as she’s trained some of our plant folks, she’s going to be ‘released’. She’s as much a problem as her dog, he thought.

“Trained? You can train a plant?”

“In this case, yes. She can encourage the plant to grow into all sorts of shapes. Within reason, of course, she can’t make it grow into a crate or a chair, for instance. But things like spoons, knife handles, trenchers, even wagon wheel spokes and turbine blades! When the plant reaches the desired shape, she cuts it off at the base, lets it dry, then clips off the trencher, for instance and there you are, a brand new trencher to eat your dinner from.”

Even more amazing, he thought, delighted by the scientific aspect of it, was that the plant re-sprouts, and grows the exact same item it did the first growth. Epigenetics in action!

The healer shook his head in dismay. “I just wonder why people have animals-or kids! and then don’t treat them well. Or just, as you say, abandon them, or foster them out because they can’t be bothered. If they don’t want to take care of them, they shouldn’t have them.”

“Absolutely right,” Francie said.

He sighed. “Right then, let’s see if ol’ Sky is ready for me,” he said. The healer gently touched the horse’s swollen eye.

Raylan flinched. The horse did not.

“There, that should do the trick. Now I’ll go behind the eye to numb the optic nerve. Not that it has any feeling, but it’s just something I’ve always done.”

He picked up a syringe with what, to Raylan, looked to be a needle the length of his arm. He pressed the lids of the swollen eye wide with his left hand.

“You’re going to stick it in his eye?” Raylan said, his voice just a little higher pitched than he wanted. “I guess, I, um, I didn’t think what eye surgery involved.”

The healer looked at him. This one’s a fainter, I bet my lunch.

“Behind the eye, sir, not through. It’s to block the nerve, although from my experience, the optic nerve has no feeling. But it doesn’t hurt to numb it. THEN, I’ll start cutting out the eye. I should warn you, this gets very gory. You’re looking a bit green.” Please leave, sir, he thought. It’s better for all of us.

“Um, I feel a little woozy,” Raylan admitted, not wanting to be thought of as a weakling. But the idea of needles in eyes, never mind scalpels-his stomach churned.

“Raylan, why don’t you go check out the beast K’ndar brought back,” Francie said, bemused. I don’t want you passing out, she thought. Funny how some people can’t handle seeing gore. But I love you whatever failings you might have.

K’ndar, who’d never seen a glaucoma eye, never mind removal of one, nodded. “I’m not sure I can handle it, either,” he lied to Raylan. “Come on, boss, I’ll show you what this cat dragged in.”

“I think I will, that’s a good idea,” Raylan said, grasping at the opportunity to miss the operation.

Francie caught K’ndar’s eye and winked. Thank you, she mouthed.

K’ndar nodded.