Once Bitten, Twice Shy

The kid lay on its side, legs stretched out. Carmen knelt beside it, ignoring the anxious mutterings of its mother. The kid had been cleaned and its copper colored fur was still damp. The air funneling up from the snow-covered hollows was frigid and the little doeling was dying of hypothermia.

Tucking the kid under her coat, Carmen started back down the hill. Tessa followed, voicing her objection in annoyed bleats. The kid was heavy and Carmen stumbled several times.

"Slow down," she cautioned herself out loud. "You're going to break your neck."

The rocks were slippery with half-thawed ice, and when she carelessly stepped on the edge of one, her foot slipped, wedging between two rocks. Her body continued its momentum down the hill and she fell, twisting so that she wouldn't fall on the kid. She screamed as pain shot through her ankle and up her leg. A cold feeling constricted her throat and she convulsed in a dry heave. The kid struggled weakly, voicing a faint cry. Tessa scrambled over the rocks to reach her infant, stepping on Carmen's fingers in the process. Carmen screamed again and Tessa danced a few steps away, calling to her kid. The kid tried to get up, but it wasn't strong enough - or was it injured in the fall?

Carmen rolled over and worked her foot out of the crevice. Was the ankle broken? She tried to stand, but the pain was excruciating. The kid needed shelter and warmth. She staggered to her feet again and hobbled to a large rock. Below, the house was bathed in the first rays of morning sun. Katie should be up by now.

A shout brought no response. She tried the foot again and found that it was less painful this time. Lifting the kid into her arms again, she hopped and limped a few steps, rested and moved again. Slowly she made her way down the hill and into the barn lot. This time when she called, Katie came from the barn.

"Oh my gosh! What happened? I came out here and the dairy was cold - I wondered where you were. Are you all right?"

Carmen nodded. "Here, take the kid. Get it in by the stove while I put Tessa in a stall." She limped a few more steps. "Did you get the stove burning?"

Katie shook her head. "No, but I'll do that right now." She darted for the barn, the kid's feet dangling like limp ropes.

Carmen managed to get Tessa into a stall, and then hobbled to the dairy for some warm water. Katie was kneeling beside the stove, her soot smudged forehead wrinkled in a frown as she lit another match. A pile of burned matches on the stove pad suggested a problem.