Read Learning to Spy for Free Online Page B

clenched again. But he smiled, and I bit my cheek, hiding my fear with a return smile. We had to become friends, I reminded myself. I lifted the lid on my churn and saw the ball of butter floating on top.
    “Well, you know how to do this stuff pretty good,” I said. “For having no hands-on experience, I mean.”
    “Thank you. But there are problems—this one, for example—that you have more knowledge of how to fix. And there might be more before we’re able to leave.”
    Able to leave? My heart beat faster, but I told myself to keep calm, take it slow.
    “Like what?”
    He stopped working and stared at me several moments before speaking again. “Come. Let me show you something.”
    I tried to control my breathing, the trembling in my legs, as I followed him to the back of the barn. I couldn’t imagine what he was about to show me, and all I could think of were chips and aliens.
    We rounded the corner and passed through a narrow door I hadn’t noticed before into a long, narrow stall that was separated from the rest of the barn by a wall. Inside, a reddish-brown Jersey cow with two tiny white horns was leaning against the far end, her stomach huge and protruding.
    “We don’t know why she’s like this,” he said. “I’m afraid she’s diseased, but I don’t have the proper tools to draw blood and test it.”
    I went over to the Jersey girl and caught her by the nose. Then I ran my hand down her side. As I reached the bottom of her belly, she let out a pained groan.
    “Easy, Bessie,” I whispered. I got down on my knees and kneaded with my fingers along the back and sides of her swollen underside.
    “She’s not diseased. She’s about to have a calf.”
    Gallatin’s face smoothed and I heard him exhale. “Of course. Why didn’t I think of that?”
    “Why would you? But this is good. It solves the problem we were having with the milk. We can return one of those cows to the line and ease off the other three.”
    “I’ll tell Cato first thing.”
    I leaned over and ran my hands along her stomach again.
    “Can you tell how much longer she has?” he asked, watching me.
    “Not much. I can feel the legs going up here to her anus. And just about everything’s palpable on the little guy.” I kneaded her side, noting the calf’s bent hind legs. “She’ll probably start trying to get him out in the next day or so.”
    “How will we know?”
    “We’ll have to check on her. A lot. And when it starts, somebody’s got to stay with her. She might need help.”
    “I can help you with that. Yes?”
    My worried eyes went to his, and I felt a little less fear. “This is where you learn my limits. Dr. Green always sent me out of the stalls for that part.”
    “But you watched?”
    “Once.” I bit my lip and looked at the pregnant cow. “From where I stood it looked a lot like staying out of the way, pulling if necessary, and trying not to get crushed. Or gored.”
    We both noted the small horns on the 500-pound beast leaning against the wall.
    “We can do it,” Gallatin said. “I’ll protect you.”
    I wasn’t confident he knew what he was in for, but I nodded anyway. We didn’t have another choice.
    * * *
    T he next morning at chores, Gallatin signaled for me to follow him to the back stall. I went, fear growing with every step, but this time it wasn’t about him. I’d never delivered a calf, and I had no idea what might happen—neither did my new assistant. When we rounded the corner, the cow had moved to the other side of her stall. I didn’t see anything yet, but I could tell she was working hard today.
    “I’m not sure, but it might be time,” he whispered, going to her and copying my actions from the day before.
    As his hand stroked down her distended abdomen, the cow seemed to respond, to relax. I walked over and did the same, and I felt the spasms of her muscles. They were all working around the calf inside her.
    “Yep. It’s time.”
    “Then I guess that means we’re staying