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Kathy & Jess
Installment # 1
The sun wasn't up yet when Jess came out of the shower. She couldn't wait to put on her cowgirl clothes and go to take care of her brand new Clydesdale. Her dad had given her the cutest young mare as a welcome home gift. She was studying abroad and had terribly missed the ranch life. The horse was completely black and its four legs where white, it was stunningly beautiful.
As the only daughter of Mr. Josh Wells, she was entitled to the family fortune but a certain education level was required to take the reins of such big responsibilities. For the past two years she had been studying at the university that was half a world away. Jess missed and thought about her family everyday and dreamt with these weeks that she would spend counting the stars laying on the moist grass. She was almost done getting dressed when the door to her room opened and her mom walked in wearing her sleeping gown.
"Good morning baby" her mom said kissing her on the cheek.
"Hi mom" Jess replied and continued fixing herself up while her mom picked up the previous night's mess.
"What are you doing up so early?" Tina asked.
"I was too excited about my gift, I can't wait to ride her." Jess replied putting on her cowgirl boots. She was wearing jeans, a tank top and an open long sleeve shirt. It was really hot this time of year but the sun would cause more damage than a little sweat.
"That love for the animals just runs in your blood, you learned how to ride a horse even before you could walk." Tina smiled remembering those days, so many happy memories, she was proud of her daughter. She was a beauty, and very smart as well. Her dedication to the family business reminded her of her husband when he was young and full of dreams, most of which had become a reality.
Jess was 22, she was tall for a girl, at six feet two inches, she was slender and athletic, tanned and her hair was waist long and honey colored that matched her hazel green eyes.
Jess said goodbye to her mom and headed downstairs hoping to find Wanda, but it was way too early, the old sweet lady that had raised her was still in bed.
Wanda was the help in the house, she had her own room and bathroom and everybody treated her as family. She had been Jess's nanny since she was in pampers and now helped Tina with the household chores.
Jess walked out the back door putting on her hat, making little noises with her boots on the wooden deck.
Josh Wells owned 300 Jersey cows, 6 bulls whose sperm was worth thousands, 50 Clydesdales, a bunch of chickens and 2 great Danes. Their property was huge, in her whole 22 years she still hadn't seen it all. Her dad was the biggest employer in the region and the benefits he offered were off the charts. Recently Mr. Wells had replaced his veterinarian, he had gotten lazy and the consequences of his actions had caused the death of a few members of the Jersey herd.
The stables were already visible from where Jess was approaching, as she picked up her pace she made a mental note to take her filly to the new vet to make sure she was as healthy as she looked. Clydesdales were known for their calm disposition and gentle temperament but Jess knew she wasn't ready to be ridden, they needed to get used to each other first and Tiny needed some basic training which Jess was very eager to provide. She had thought about a name all night long and finally decided on Tiny, she thought it was sweet and kind of funny.
Jess walked by a group of employees, they were doing their chores, cleaning after the horses and feeding them as well as the rest of the animals. Like usual some of the young guys stopped and stared, hitting on her with old played out lines, whistling and making a fool of themselves.
"That's Jess Wells you dumb asses" A teeth less middle aged man growled at them recognizing her.
"Good morning guys, working hard I see." She said sarcastically making them all feel embarrassed.
Jess finally arrived at the stables, Tiny was drinking water, she needed almost 40 gallons a day, and ate between 35 and 40 pounds of hay. She was only a year old and was already weighting close to 1300 pounds. Jess told Tiny all about her life and how happy she was to be here for the next few months while brushing the horses' hair. She made sure that all the hairs on Tiny's legs were untangled and said goodbye giving her a treat for behaving so good.
On the way to the vet's clinic Jess breathed in deep the pure air, her lungs filled with all kinds of familiar scents, the wet grass in the morning the faint smell of manure, she could see the activity around her, everyone working together to accomplish a goal, the ranch was her life, her passion, she wanted to die there, to raise her kids on her parents house, she hoped they all inherited her love for the land, for the animals and most importantly her lack of ambition.
When she arrived at the clinic she wasn't expecting to find the vet wearing bloody overalls, boots and with hose in hand showering a cow that had given birth a couple of hours before. The calf had been premature therefore she would have to stay under the care of the doctor not the mom for the sake of her survival. She was sleeping peacefully on a cardboard box wrapped in a towel a few feet away from the mom.
"Good morning" Jess said after contemplating the view for a few minutes.
"Hello" the vet replied a little jumpy.
"I'm sorry If I surprised you. I'm Jess Wells"
"I'm Kathy Randall, It's nice to finally meet you." Kathy smiled flashing her white straight teeth.
Kathy continued her job, she was exhausted, the whole night the poor cow had been through labor and now she wasn't even going to be able to take care of her off spring and was all covered in blood and dried up placenta mixed with hay.
"Can I help you with anything?" Kathy asked rubbing the Jersey's dirty sides.
"I wanted to ask you if you could take a look at my new Clydesdale, I just want to make sure she's in good health."
"If you're talking about the young black and white filly, you got nothing to worry about, I bought it myself."
"Oh really?" Jess was impressed. The vet had good taste.
"Your dad told me that I should find the cutest healthiest mare for his daughter, so I tried my best." Kathy smiled again.
"Well I must tell you that you have accomplished your mission." Jess smiled also.
"Thanks. You know I've heard all kinds of things about you at the ranch, but nobody ever told me that you were so pretty." Kathy almost bit her tongue, sometimes her mouth betrayed her.
"What kind of things are you referring to?" Jess blushed, she had never been hit on before by another girl. It felt funny, but kind of pleasant.
"You know, gossip. That you're studying abroad, that you're smart." Kathy changed the topic.
"You could have heard that from my dad, but ok, I'll let it pass, only because you think I'm pretty." What the hell was that Jess? She asked herself. Are you flirting back? She couldn't control herself.
"Thank you." Kathy replied, noticing Jess's confusion.
"Do you need help?" Jess volunteered.
"You can dry her up if you want." Kathy replied grateful. Wow!! After so many years a boss that actually liked getting involved.
Jess grabbed a few brown towels that were on a pile in the corner and began drying the cow, first her face and back and lastly her belly and legs.
Kathy did a few stitches on the cows incision to stop the bleeding and took her to a special room with ac and plenty of water as well as a soft bed made specially for Jersey moms.
"It was really nice of you to help me." Kathy appreciated Jess's work.
"It's been a pleasure." Jess sighed while Kathy picked everything up and put it back in its place.
"How long you're staying?" Kathy felt comfortable around Jess, she was very friendly and easy going.
"Three months, I still have one more year to go." Jess didn't sound like she was looking forward to that last year.
"I bet you miss it here." Kathy ventured.
"Terribly, it's a torture." Jess was being a little over dramatic.
Kathy added some more towels around the calf and placed it on a metal cart with wheels, she was going to take the little cow to her house to keep an eye on her and make sure she made it thru the first day, after that they would be on the safe zone.
"I'm heading home, I'm dead. I'll see you around." Kathy said goodbye and left Jess at the clinic staring at her back.
"See you later." She replied absent minded.