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“It’s an inflammation in the hoof. I recommended a change of diet, a new kind of shoe. Within a short time that horse will be back under saddle. For that horse it’s a temporary condition. For another it’s chronic and will recur dozens of times throughout his life. I don’t feel sorry for the gelding we just treated. I do feel sorry for the horse with a chronic problem. Life can be tough.”
    “I know,” Carole said. “I guess I just don’t like to be reminded of that.”
    “I’m sorry,” Judy said quickly, giving Carole a comforting look. Before she could say more, her beeper went off. She hurriedly took a final bite of the pizza, grabbed her soda, and dashed for her truck, parked outside the restaurant. “Let’s see what Alan wants.”
    Alan was Judy’s husband and veterinary assistant. He didn’t usually call her unless there was an emergency. When veterinary emergencies happened, seconds counted. Judy was on her car phone calling Alan before Carole had a chance to climb into the cab of the truck.
    “Hold on!” Judy said, hanging up the phone and turning on the engine at practically the same instant.
    Carole slammed her door and strapped herself in withher seat belt. When they’d made a U-turn and were speeding along the street, Carole asked what was up.
    “I won’t know for sure until I see, but it sounds to me like we’ve got a really sick horse on our hands. This one may bother you, Carole. You don’t have to come in, you know.”
    “What happened?”
    “I think it’s tetanus,” Judy said, shifting into high gear.
    Tetanus? Carole knew all about tetanus. It was everywhere. It was caused by a bacteria that lived in the soil and horses were constantly exposed to it. It was a tough germ that could survive for long periods and in extreme temperatures. Everybody who knew anything about horses knew a lot about tetanus—including the fact that it was almost completely preventable. Every horse had to be immunized against it soon after birth, with regular boosters throughout their lifetimes. Every person who spent time around horses had to be immunized against it regularly. Any cut, particularly deep ones, on people and horses, had to be assumed to have tetanus in it and called for additional immunization. Tetanus was a dreadful disease. It was also a killer.
    Judy drew the truck to an abrupt halt at a small barn on a small farm and jumped out of the cab almost as fast as she’d gotten in.
    The horse’s owner, looking drawn and pale, was waiting for Judy by the entrance. He came over while Judy took her bag out of the traveling emergency room on the back of the truck, and the two of them talked urgently.
    Carole reached for the handle of the door and then stopped. She didn’t know if she could do this—if she was ready to see a horse who was deathly ill. She’d seen death in humans and horses before, and she didn’t like it. She looked at the hand reaching for the door handle. It was shaking. Then she thought about the horse inside the barn who needed Judy’s help and might need hers as well. She decided that her own feelings were not as important as the horse’s care.
    Without further hesitation, Carole opened the door and joined Judy and the owner in the barn.
    Carole saw the sick horse immediately. He was standing in a soiled stall, all of his limbs stiff from pain. His head was raised in an awkward position, almost like an extension of his neck. His eyes looked clouded until Carole realized that it was the horse’s “third” eyelid—a milky membrane that was always open—that had closed over them, as if trying to shut out the world. Saliva drooled freely from his clenched jaw. Then Carole saw the healing gash on the horse’s hind leg that was the cause of the disease. The gash was getting better. The horse was not.
    Judy didn’t waste any time. She began examining the horse and jotting notes in a file.
    Carole knew some of the things Judy would do. She also knew that if this horse