Ruth Herne - Waiting Out the Storm

Sarah flicked the barn light switch then paused, her eyes adjusting, her ears tuned to out-of-sync noises.

All was calm.

Walking through, she found a new set of twins. The sloe-eyed ewe must have delivered late afternoon. Both babies strong and healthy, the caring mother uttered soft bleats of comfort to her offspring. The number of animals provided plenty of heat in this foremost barn, even in the bitter cold. Regardless of the calendar date, night temps could drop on the heels of a Canadian Clipper, a steep down surge of the jet stream. Tonight promised to be one of those. The wind blew intemperate, but the barn was snug. Secure. She’d made sure of that when she first considered this parcel. A cozy barn, good pastureland, large hayfields. Essentials to a northern shepherd on an accelerated breeding program.

And a house that needed cleaning. Cleaning she didn’t have time or energy for most days. Satisfied with the scene before her, she retreated, closing the door with a firm hand, ready for a cleansing shower and a warm bed.

Baaaaaah.

Sarah turned, ears perked, drawing her coat closer.

A sharp wind chilled her neck. She eyed the dark field, knowing the next group of expectant mothers huddled in the second pasture. Not due for six to eight weeks, they should drop late-spring lambs that would be market-ready mid- to late summer, in time for the ethnic festival season in New York City.

As she turned back toward the house, the bleat sounded once more, followed by a bark, sharp and commanding.

Gritting her teeth, Sarah headed to the pickup, wondering why she ever thought sheep were cute.

Hours later, she was still unsure. The tiny lambs born in the cold meadow were taking their own sweet time to warm up. Sarah was sure she’d hit every rut in the farm lane as she traversed the pasture’s edge in the pitch-black. An early-waxing crescent moon had dipped below the horizon long ago. Starlight did little to pierce the woods-edged fields and her long-handled flashlight kept blinking out.

She loaded the new family eventually, tempting the mother up the ramp by tucking the half-frozen triplets at the end of it. Then she prodded and prayed.

“It’s a good thing Jesus liked you guys well enough to put you in His stories,” she grumbled to the three newborns flanking the woodstove. At the moment, Sarah didn’t find them all that appealing as she massaged the shoulder she’d wrenched during loading. She loved Christ’s soft spot for shepherds, the parables and analogies. He kept it simple, and that worked for her. You couldn’t get much more mundane than shepherds and fishermen.

Exhausted, she lounged her head against the worn cushion, the lambs snug in a garage sale playpen. Clutching an afghan to her chest, Sarah watched as the heat of the stove gradually chased the chill from the fragile bodies. Since the newborns needed to re-acclimate with their mother, she set the alarm for a two-hour nap, dozing with them, their quick-pace heartbeats offset by the strength and steadiness of hers.

The phone shrilled as Sarah adjusted the angle of the Pritchard teat to feed lamb number three the next morning. The others had rejoined Mama with little fuss, but the ewe butted this one away repeatedly. Frustrated and frantic, the hungry lamb needed food and reassurance. Frowning, Sarah let the machine pick up, knowing these first feedings were crucial. Hearing the message, she dropped the retrofitted soda bottle and snatched up the phone.

“This is Sarah.”

“Sarah, it’s Cade Macklin.”

“I know. I heard your voice. I was busy with a newborn lamb.” She inhaled nice and long, slowing her anxiety. “What’s happened?”

“There’s a petition regarding Rita and the kids. Someone turned her in for neglect. They want the children removed. Livvie’s last prank opened a few eyes.”

Liv and some friends had decorated the school superintendent’s office with graphic posters when news broke that the administrator was cheating on his wife with the middle-school principal. Their little gambit caricatured the administrators with complex artwork, employing a parody on the superintendent’s theme for the year: Ethics in Education. An eye-opener, for sure.

Oh, man. Where were these people when her sister-in-law needed help? When kids needed rides, or trips to the dentist? Nowhere to be found. But let a teenager step out of line and she was marked for life. At least if her last name was Slocum and she lived in a Podunk little…

Sarah choked down a sigh. “What happens now?”

“Social Services sent someone by Rita’s, found it lacking in supervision, and will request the court place the children in foster care.”

“Over my dead body.”

Cade’s voice deepened. “Can you take them? Judge Hicks won’t grant guardianship to your father or Ed. Rita’s people are in Albany, and you know how kids are about being moved around.”

“Why are you doing this, Cade?” She didn’t mean to sound blunt. Blame it on lack of sleep. Total surprise. The Macklin family owed the Slocums nothing. Zip. Zilch.

“Because Rita and those kids have suffered enough.” The police chief’s voice firmed. “They did nothing wrong, Sarah. Nor did you. And I can’t see how sending those kids away will help a woman who’s fighting depression. Maybe even suicidal.”

Sarah thought quickly. “What about school? I’m not in their district.” Sarah’s farm lay mostly in the Canton school district, although a small portion of her land crossed the border into Grasse Bend. Rita’s house was north, in Potsdam.

“We can get that okayed by the board. They’re good people. It might be tricky to arrange transportation for the next couple of days, but between the two districts it’s doable in the long run. I’ll work it out. That way the kids can finish the year in Potsdam. Maybe summer will be Rita’s turning point. If summer ever gets here.”

Since the winter had been cold and gray with little sun, the entire region would welcome warmth. Sarah agreed. “I’ll do whatever it takes, Cade. This house isn’t all that big, but I can stretch it.”

“Good.” Relief thickened his voice. “I’ll talk to the caseworker and the child advocate. They’ll probably come see you.”

“Great.” Sarah’s living space longed for time and effort she didn’t have right now, a touch she’d give it if she weren’t constantly working on either sheep or business accounts or helping Rita. Her degree in business accounting kept her tending books at night for a growing number of local farms and small businesses, the steady funds helping her bottom line until the farm was better established. She breathed deep, contemplating. She’d started this enterprise willing to do whatever it took to make her farm successful.

Throw three disgruntled kids who disliked farms into the mix…

Ugh. She swallowed hard. “What should I do now?”

“Hold tight. I’ll pass the word and have them get back to you. They’re swamped, but a petition for removal is serious so it shouldn’t be too long. Then the question is how do we help Rita?”

Sarah pictured her sister-in-law. Silent. Distant. Morose. “I don’t know. I… She’s….” Her voice tapered off.

“We’ll figure it out.” Cade’s voice reassured. “No one wants to see Rita hurt. Or those kids. It’s time for everyone to move on.”

Cade’s magnanimity seemed ironic when she’d been face-to-face with his brother’s animosity too many times to count. Of course, he’d been nicer yesterday. Much nicer. Still… “Not everyone feels like you do.”

“They will.”

His assurance heartened her. The lamb, impatient, bleated an entreaty. Cade laughed. “Go feed your little friend, Sarah. I’ll be in touch.”

A small part of Sarah’s heart loosened at this overture, the olive branch extended. “Thanks, Cade.”

“You’re welcome.”

Sarah reached for the lamb. Angling the bottle, she mulled Cade’s words.

Losing the children could push Rita over the edge and the fear of suicide worried Sarah. If they could get help for Rita while the kids stayed on the farm, that might help.

Liv wouldn’t like this. She was a town girl. Her daddy had looked down his nose at farmers, and the girl took after him. That should be interesting.

Brett? A little uncertain, but definitely an easier-going personality. And he had an intrinsic love for nature, if not for sheep dung.

Both in the thick of puberty. Adolescence. Oh, man. An additional form of insanity right there.

And Skeeter. Skeeter needed someone to care for her, watch over her. Share in the joy of each new day when she wasn’t whining or complaining about something, which was fairly often of late. Simple, by comparison.

But not one of them was accustomed to the sights, sounds and smells of a working farm.

St. Lawrence County boasted multiple classes of people. Those who farmed, including the Amish, their quaint wagons and roadside stands dotting a countryside thick with agriculture.

Then there was the upscale staff and alumni of Clarkson and St. Lawrence Universities. Throw SUNY Potsdam and Canton into the mix, and you had a diverse dynamic at odds with itself. Town kids might be raised within two miles of some of the best northern farmland in the U.S., but have little association with product or producer, fairly certain food came from the local grocer.

Sarah grimaced, remembering her family’s expressions when she announced she was starting a farm.

They blamed her mother’s Abenaki blood. The urge to be at peace with the land, one with the Spirit.

The aspersions to her mother’s memory stung. Peg “Bent Willow” Slocum had been a good woman, a strong Christian who cherished her mix of heritages. Maybe if she’d lived, things would have been different.

But she hadn’t and Sarah could pinpoint the day and time when she’d known where her own destiny lay. It was her first summer away, the end of her freshman year of college. She’d stayed in Cortland, working a sheep farm by day and waiting tables at night. She’d made enough money to guarantee her second year of studies and celebrate her freedom from the Slocum domain, the “me first” mind-set prevalent at old Tom’s table. Her father was not a nice man.

She found the faith her mother inspired at a white clapboard church and a Bible passage that brought shepherds to a newborn babe, laid in a manger.

She found home.

Practicality insisted she finish her degree. A girl had to eat and farms weren’t an easy venture.

Angling the bottle to keep the lamb from sucking air, a smile tugged Sarah’s mouth as she regarded the tiny creature before her. Not easy, by any means. But worthwhile.

Craig careened to a stop and pushed out of the car, instantly enamored of the view. “This is it.”

His home site. He was sure of it. His new house would sit there, right there, at the apex of the hill, its south-facing windows benefiting from the winter’s sun. Evergreens rose beyond the hill, close enough for privacy, far enough to let the winter sun shine unfettered. The slope angled toward the road in an easy climb, nothing too difficult for winter months. The adjoining land was farmed, but this parcel lay unplanted, ready for building. Native trees surrounded enough open land to offer fun. He pictured Rocket ambling through the woods, ears perked, hunting new sights and sounds. Maybe it would pep the old boy up, to have fresh grounds to explore.

Craig strode forward, oblivious to the weariness he’d felt moments before. He grabbed his cell and dialed Laraby Realty. “Steve? Craig Macklin. Listen, I’m staring at a piece of property on Waterman Hill. It’s perfect. It lies between two farms. Across from another. Probably seven to ten acres I’m eyeing up. Yeah, that’s right. The south side.” Walking as he talked, Craig studied the site.