The Italian Marriage by Jenna Lo Bianco

Author:Jenna Lo Bianco
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Published: 2023-12-12T01:12:02+00:00

ventuno

Sarah was in the kitchen, flipping and turning the cooling jars of blackberry jam and tomato chutney, when something caught her attention.

She craned her head towards the open door, and the noise came again.

Dante? she thought.

Wiping her hands on her apron, she followed the distressed bleating to the stables. Dante was circling Beatrice.

‘Hey, sweet girl,’ Sarah said, approaching from the side as Beatrice dug at the hay-laden floor with her front hooves, clearly in pain. Giving her gentle pats along the length of her flank, Sarah did some quick calculations on the date: the goat was in labour. ‘It’s going to be ok,’ she reassured her.

Angelo was in Fiorellino, collecting gardening supplies, so Sarah popped back into the kitchen, grabbed two pairs of rubber gloves, a bucket of warm water and some tea towels. She found Matthew in their bedroom, finalising their new website, and he immediately ditched his computer to join her in the stables.

‘And how many times have you done this?’ Matthew asked.

‘By myself? Never. Watched on and helped on the farm? Around ten, I’d say.’ Sarah made her way back to Beatrice’s side. Her hooves continued to grate at the floor between bleats. ‘Not long now, I think. She’s doing that because of the contractions.’

Sure enough, within minutes, the first delivery began. Matthew watched on, mesmerised, as Sarah caught the little black kid and brought it round to Beatrice’s mouth. After a brief introduction between mother and baby, Sarah took a tea towel and used it to rub down the kid’s muzzle, clearing its nose. Once she was happy that the kid was breathing well enough on its own, she left Beatrice to clean it down.

‘She’s talking to it,’ Sarah pointed out. Matthew took note of the gentle whisper-like bleats of Beatrice to her baby. ‘It’s so precious.’

Matthew didn’t dare look away. ‘That was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen.’

After a few moments of quiet and stillness, Beatrice stood on all fours once more and returned to digging her hooves.

‘Another one on the way,’ Sarah warned. ‘Would you like to try this time?’

Matthew’s face suddenly cleared of his previous expression of joy, and he looked pale. ‘No. I can’t . . .’

‘Yes, you can. I’m here to coach you.’

Apprehensively, he took a step forward and put on the spare pair of rubber gloves. At the business-end of the operation, he dropped to his knees and, as calmly as he could muster, he said, ‘Hooves. There are two right here.’

Sarah stood behind him. ‘Good. It will be an easy one for her.’

The second kid had come into view and Matthew was ready to catch it. He steeled himself, then allowed his instincts to take over. Moments later, he delivered the little white kid to Beatrice, who immediately set about tending to it.

Matthew exhaled in relief. ‘That was a rush.’

‘You were great. She’s fine, and she has another healthy baby.’

Beatrice went on to deliver two more kids, bringing the herd of goats at Convento delle Viole to six.

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