THE BEGINNING OF APRIL was cold and Nora the vet had been out to check on the cows and tell Maggie and Nick that they both could deliver any day now. Nora had given Maggie some tips if there should be some distress with the actual deliveries, otherwise they were told to keep the cows in a pen with access to the barn and let nature take its course.
Nora also warned that coyotes and other predators seemed to pay extra attention to birthing animals as newborn calves were sometimes easy prey. Maggie found some old quilts and rags and rubber gloves and had these things ready to take to the barn to wipe a calf down if necessary. She made a softer bed on the straw in the barn because it was still bitterly cold at night.
One evening just as Nick and Maggie were finishing supper, Lady was up and
