Sacred Ground Read Free Page A

say pull, I want you to give it all you've got," Brett said.
    Willow glanced at him, confused by his sudden change in character. She'd never seen this side of Brett Turner. It made her feel more on-guard than his arguing did. She'd have to distract herself with conversation or her body might betray how his closeness affected her. "Why did you quit school? Too much work for a rich rancher's son?"
    "Rich had nothing to do with it," he said, glancing her way. "Hand me that bottle and sponge. This will sterilize the birth opening some. My father was dead set against my becoming a vet. He hated it so much, he wouldn't give me a penny toward my schooling."
    "Why would he be against something so worthwhile and what you wanted?" Willow sat back on her heels to give him more room to work. "How'd you pay for it all?" She drew in a breath of burning sweetgrass , and her father's soft chants calmed her.
    "I worked two jobs and studied in between. I'll admit it was difficult, but I did what I had to do. It was my dream." He reached his hand back into the laboring buffalo. "This is it, pull !"
    Willow pulled on the struggling calf, guiding it through the opening of its mother's body. Brett grabbed her hand in an attempt to help lift the newborn. She glanced at him and paused, finding warm blue eyes staring back at her. Uneasiness washed over her. Once again she realized she didn't know this Brett Turner. She tore her gaze away and settled it on Lance and Sean.
    "Boys, grab some towels and be ready to dry our newcomer," she shouted, while helping Brett bring the struggling calf into the world.
    A silence fell over all of them.
    "He is a sacred buffalo," Grandfather Antelope Tipi said in a quiet tone. "It is considered sacred and has been revered by Plains Indians for centuries. This is a sign."
    "That's all superstition," Brett snapped, turning away from the old Indian.
    Willow could tell Brett seemed impressed, even awed by the rare sight before him. She wondered why he tried so hard to hide it. The story of White Buffalo Woman, which had been told and retold through generations, prophesied she would return to the People in times of need. The birth of a female white buffalo is an important event.
    "I've never seen a white buffalo," Lance said, his voice equally hushed as his grandfather’s. The boys moved in closer for a better look.
    “It’s an albino, might be somewhat unusual, but many animals have albino births,” Brett offered.
    “Not albino with black nose and black eyes,” Antelope Tipi pointed out. “The last time a white buffalo was born was nineteen-ninety-four, in a small town in Wisconsin .”
    “That’s right, Father. That was on a small farm in Janesville , Heider farm, I think.”
    "Wait 'till I tell the kids at school! Can we take him to show everyone?" Sean asked, crowding alongside Lance.
    "We may have to consider having a school field trip here." Willow smiled at their eagerness and noticed Brett watching the calf with great interest, in spite of himself.
    "Wow, Mom! He's beautiful," Lance said.
    "Yeah, Mom . . . Willow. Can we dry him off?" Sean asked.
    "You boys stay back," Brett ordered.
    "Oh, let them wipe the baby off. It'll be something they'll always remember," she said.
    They raised affirmative thumbs-up at each other. Willow wondered what Brett would say if he knew the 'x' scar on their thumbs meant they were true blood brothers. She smiled, liking it.
    "Please, Dad?" Sean asked, his tone bordering on a whine.
    "Okay. But stay clear. We're far from done here and I don't want you in the way," he answered, working on his patient.
    Aware of his intensity and gentleness, she handed Brett a plastic bag, and he cleaned the area without hesitation. He did appear to know what he was doing. "Why didn't you finish what you needed to become a vet?"
    "I had a ranch to run, a son to raise , and a mother to think about instead of myself." He looked concerned and moved his hand back into the laboring