Rupert burst through the door, clutching the half-frozen colt as tightly to his chest as he could. All the poor thing had done was weakly cough during the entire journey, its tiny heartbeat was growing weaker and weaker with each passing minute.
Rushing through to the kitchen, Rupert grabbed some thick dish-towels and laid them out on the countertop so he could roll the little orange colt into a burrito, keeping him warm and coddling him to hopefully ignite some base psychological healing. It seemed to do the job as the colt pulled himself closer to the edge of his cocoon seeking comfort.
Rupert knew they werenât safe yet, the wee thing had probably gone days without feeding, and giving his freezing state he needed warm milk to heat up his insides. With no other options, Rupert dashed to the fridge and picked up a bottle of Mareâs Milk gifted to him by his father Herman on the off-chance Cornflowerâs litter was too big to feed in one go⌠back when then that was still a possibility.
Ignoring the painfulness of the past, Rupert poured the milk into a saucepan and gently heated it up on the stove. He knew this wasnât a quick process, but cold milk would do more harm than good and for whatever reason Fluffy mil went bad in microwaves, something about the radiation breaking down the nutrients. Whatever the reason, Rupert had only one option, all he had to do now was try not to have a nervous breakdown while each second crawled passed like hours.
Trying to keep his mind off the wait, Rupert spent his time playing with the colt, scratching under his chin and stroking his thin black mane. Given the obvious stunt in his growth, Rupert couldnât tell how old the cold was, the lack of teeth was obvious so he was still a weanling, his size suggested he shouldâve been walking and talking by now, but his lack of bulk and the fact that he hadnât opened his eyes or spoken a word yet made Rupert wonder if the colt was just done in by his predicament, or if heâd been permanently stunted by his lack of sustenance.
Whatever the reason, this was going to be a hard recovery for the little guy, one Rupert was happy to take with him.
Eventually the pan reached the optimum temperature and Rupert was able to pour the heated milk into a bottle with a rubber teat. Carefully he sat down on a chair, cradling the colt in one arm whilst slowly feeding him with the bottle, the scent of milk made the colt go crazy as he weakly flailed his limp limbs towards the sweet necter.
âPeepâŚchirp⌠chirpâŚkaff, kaffâ
âEasy there, easy, I gotcha.â
The foal took the teat with a surprising amount of gusto but Rupert held back, he knew those first couple of sips were gonna take the colt off-guard, and sure enough the poor thing let out a rough coughing fit from the sudden heat touching his frozen throat.
âHuuu, kaff kaff kaff. Peep peeep.â
âI know, I know but keep it up, itâs good for you.â
With Rupert controlling the flow, the orange cold slowly but surely found a rhythm that comforted him, Rupert swore he even saw a little smile growing on his face as a hoof absent-mindedly stroked the rubber teat.
At that moment Rupertâs phone started ringing, with much dismay from the colt Rupert put the bottle down so he could check the caller, seeing his wifeâs name as she tried to Face-Time him. Rupert quickly balanced the phone on a nearby table so he could still be hands-free to feed the cold and answered his wife.
âMollie, Mollie Oxen Free. To what do I owe the pleasure?â
Mollie Mongola chuckled. âJust checking up on you, making sure you havenât burnt the house down yet.â
âOf course not. Just the kitchen a little bit. Howâs dadâs farm?â
On the phone screen Mollie looked around the living room of Hermanâs farmhouse, every winter Rupert , Mollie and their son James would house-sit for Herman whilst he made an annual trip to Mississippi to help out his friend Dee Dee with her Fluffy Farm. This was the first year Rupert hadnât gone but that was so he could look after Cornflower and her pregnancy without the young James being subjected to having THAT talk just yet.
âItâs still as cosy as ever, be even cosy with you here.â
âI know, and Iâm sorry.â
âItâs fine Rupe, we both agreed this was the best decision. How is Cornflower anyway?â
Rupertâs sigh told Mollie that whatever he was about to say was bad news.
âSheâs sterile. Apparently sheâs been spayed, that little nick in her ear is a sign for spayed mares.â
Mollieâs confusion mirrored Rupertâs from a few days ago. âWhat? But thatâs⌠nobody mentions that to us.â
âThatâs what I thought, but honestly all I have is my memory, I donât want to start questioning that just now. Point being that it is what it is and Cornflower⌠well to put it bluntly sheâs depressed, not in Wan-Die stage yet butâŚâ
Mollie pondered for a moment. âYou could take her up here. I know itâll be a hell of a drive but the fresh air might be good for her, plus did yâknow Herman had some new Fluffies? One of them is a damned Cow-Fluffy, never seen one before but sheâs an absolute Gem, James is outside playing with them just now.â
âItâs a tempting offer, but I think Iâve got something a little better.â
Rupert stood up slightly so Mollie could see the colt feeding in his arms. Her eyes went wide at the sight.
âI was wondering what was going on there. Jeez Rupe where did you find them?â
âHim. And I almost stumbled into him on my way to the shops. His whole family was wiped out, frozen in the cold, he almost went with them. I donât know why I decided to save him, maybe this whole thing with Cornflower put me in a saviour kind of mood. MaybeâŚâ
âMaybe you could give him to Cornflower.â Mollie nodded along, seeing where her husband was going.
âExactly, it wonât be her babbeh, but she can still be his mummah.â
Mollie sat back in her seat, she took off her glasses to wipe her eyes. âA small part of me thinks this is a bad idea, we donât know anything about this colt, not his temperament, not his genealogy, we donât even know what diseases heâs carrying. But a much larger part of me wanted Cornflower to by happy. I trust you Rupe, if you think this is a good idea, then Iâm with you all the way.â
âThank you, I wouldâve called to discuss it but⌠well the situation was dire.â
âDonât worry, I understand. I let you get back to it, you call me if anything changes, good or bad.â
âWill do, Iâll call anyway after dinner to talk to James before bedtime. Take care of yourselves, love you.â
âLove you too.â
The couple hung up and Rupert returned his attention to the colt, by now sleeping peacefully with a sated belly. Smiling at the little guy, and satisfied that he wasnât in any immediate danger, Rupert figured now would be a good time to introduce him to Cornflower.
After a quick wet-wipe to take any lingering dirt off his Fluff, Rupert slowly carried the orange colt through to Cornflowerâs safe-room. To his dismay she hadnât moved from her bed in the entire time he had been gone. With her back to him, Rupert sat down beside her and stroked her side.
âCornflower, I have a gift for you.â
âFank yu daddeh.â Sniff. âBu Cownfwowa nu wan pwesents wight nyo.â
âOh but I think youâll want this present.â
Rupert placed the orange colt in front of Cornflower, she blinked in surprise as she processed what she was looking at. She let out a shaking hoof as she gently touched the colt on the cheek, making sure he was real.
âBa⌠babbeh?â
âThatâs right Cornflower, this little guy had his mummah go forever sleepies from the cold, he needs a lot of love and care to feel better again, maybe youâd like to be his mummah and make sure he grows up big and strong.â
âCownfwowa⌠git tu be mummah?â
Rupert nodded, smiling at the stunned expression on Cornflowerâs face. Still dazed from the news, Cornflower took the orange colt and pressed him against her chest, hugging him tightly.
When she felt the coltâs tiny legs hug her back she started crying, but with a bright smile on her face as she did.
âFank yu daddeh.â She whispered out. âDis am bestesh pwesent eba.â
âYouâre welcome Cornflower, Iâll leave you to get some rest, but if you need anything you let me know.â
Cornflower nodded, barely listening as all her attention was on the colt in her arms. She started rocking back and forth and humming just as Rupert left the room, leaving the door slightly open so he could hear her if she yelled.
âMummah wub babbeh, babbeh wub mummah, pewfek babbeh, wub yu so mush.â
Cornflowerâs lullaby soothed the colt as he nestled into the softest, warmest Fluff heâd ever felt, the dulcet tones told him that the painful time that came before mustâve been a mistake, that he was right where he belonged now, that this angelic creatures holding him was the most important Fluffy in his world.
Pressing his cheek tighter to Cornflowerâs chest, the mare made out two tiny words.
âWub mummah.â
The blue mare burst into happy tears again as she licked the coltâs forehead.
âDat wight babbeh. Am mummah.â
