Christmas With Hover Hill (16 page)

Elizabeth brought a blanket from the linen closet and
draped it around Hover's shoulders. He didn't move or make a sound.
There was a time, he would have come alive and pushed her away,
thinking she wanted to flip his switch off.

Bud's pickup sliding to a stop by the front porch
woke up Elizabeth and Hover the next morning. He burst in on them.
“You guys alright.”

“
We're fine, but we didn't have a way to call
the light company. There was a lot of crashing noise and then a big
fireball lit up the sky outside the window,” Elizabeth said
excitedly.

“
A tree went down on your transformer. The
fireball was the transformer blowing. When I saw the tree down, I
called for help from the light company,” Bud said.

“
You're a life saver,” Elizabeth told
him.

“
Robot, you doing okay,” Bud asked.

“
I am a little slow, but after I warm up, my
transmitters will be back up to speed,” Robot droned. “I can not
fix you coffee this morning.”

“
No need. I have a thermos full out in the
pickup for Lizzy and me. Maybe you could cook our breakfast if
you're up to it.”

“
Standing over the cooking food will feel good
to my transmitters,” Hover declared.

Chapter 12

All too fast, the days passed. The scenery's color
outside Elizabeth's window changed from white to green. When she
heard Bud's pickup drive in, she peeked out the window to make sure
it was him. No one else came down that dead end road, but she
couldn't help feeling jittery even though she'd managed to live in
the house without being bothered for several months.

Spring brought frosty mornings. Trees sparkled in the
sunlight, coated with thick hoary frost. Bud was out of the pickup,
ambling across the yard. The lowered brim of his straw hat shaded
his eyes. His hands were in his jeans pockets. He didn't need to
hay the cattle now that the grass was growing. So he didn't have a
reason to ride over on the tractor anymore.

Bud checked the cattle twice a week. When he came, he
always stopped in to say hello. Elizabeth had come to expect Bud's
visits and missed him on the days he didn't come.

She opened the door as he came up the steps. “Good
morning.”

“
Morning. I wondered if you wanted to ride with
me to the pasture to see the cows. It's calving season. I have to
check every day now to make sure they're doing all
right.”

“
Sure. Just let me put on a jacket.” Elizabeth
hollered to the kitchen. “Hover, I'm going with Bud to check the
cows.”

“
Fine. Tell Farmer I will have coffee ready
when he comes back with you.”

Bud shook his head as they went down the steps. “Is
that robot ever going to learn to say my name?”

“
I'd say it's a stand off. Hover isn't going to
use your name until you use his, but what do I know. He says he has
to have names programmed into him. What we need is a computer
expert to program him for us. Maybe one of these days I will find
someone to take care of that,” Elizabeth said.

Bud chuckled all the way to the pickup. He hopped in
and sobered up. “Hey, if Robot isn't programmed for names how is it
that he knows to call you Beth?”

Elizabeth winced. “There's a reason. I just don't
want to explain why yet.”

“
All right, I'm here to listen when you're
ready,” Bud said reluctantly. He knew better than to press her. Any
attempt to push the subject might send her on the run
again.

He got out, opened the gate and pulled it back along
the fence. When he drove through the pasture, he honked his horn.
The cows came slowly over the hills.

Elizabeth said, “Looks like your cows are still as
programmed as Hover. They expect a bale of hay when you honk.”

“
Cows are creatures of habit I reckon.” Bud
looked all around. “Looks like a new calf over there.” He pointed
toward a stand of persimmon trees at the base of a
ridge.

“
I see it,” Elizabeth said excitedly as she
watched the calf stand and nudge its mother side to nurse. “Oh,
isn't that baby the sweetest thing?”

“
If you ever go for a walk when I'm not around
don't get in the pasture without me. Cows with calves fresh on the
ground can be temperamental about who comes to visit. A lot like
the robot,” Bud said. He grinned when Elizabeth frowned at
him.

“
I'll remember that,” she said.

A couple dozen cows ganged up around the pickup. Bud
stopped and watched them. “I'm going to get out and walk around the
cows. Want to go with me?”

“
I thought you said I couldn't do that,”
Elizabeth protested.

“
These don't have calves with them. It will be
all right if they aren't mothers,” Bud said. “I just want to check
their back ends and see how much they're springing. That helps me
know which cows to watch first or look for when they hide out. When
they do that, I know they are with a new calf.”

Elizabeth stepped out into the grass and edged around
the pickup with her back to it until she got to Bud.

“
Just stick with me,” he said and stalked off
among the cattle. They parted for him. With his back to her, he
said, “See the ones with the tight bags. Looks like they are going
to pop any day now.

I like it when a bunch of calves come at once. Makes
calving time much shorter. Also, gets it over with before all the
spring rains come that might make the calves sick.”

Elizabeth felt a raspy wetness rake across her hand.
She cried out when she looked behind her. A large black cow brought
her long tongue out for another lick. “Bud!” Elizabeth sprang
forward and bumped into him. “Help me.”

Bud turned, glanced at the cow and said unconcerned,
“What's wrong?”

Elizabeth wiped her hand dry on her jeans. She
stammered, “Th – that cow tried to eat me.”

“
Her. Old Gerty won't hurt you. I bottle fed
her when her mom died. She's one of my pets.” Bud held his hand out
to let the cow sniff him.

“
She might be grateful to you, but you just
said your cows don't like strangers,” retorted
Elizabeth.

“
That's true. Once they get to know you, and
you get to know them, you'll see they aren't half bad critters,”
Bud told her. “I've been around them so long I can tell them all
apart. Most of them have names.”

“
Just introducing me to each of them isn't
going to make them like me,” Elizabeth bit back. She kept her eyes
on the cattle and made sure to stay close to Bud until he climbed
back into the pickup.

Bud drove toward the back fence, watching on both
sides of the pickup. “That cow in the plum thicket might need help.
See how she's straining.”

Elizabeth stared where Bud pointed. “Yes.”

Bud pulled up close to the cow and stopped. “We'll
watch her for a moment and see if she's going to deliver by
herself. I'd rather let nature take its course.”

“
What do you do if the cow needs
help?”

“
I pull the calf out for her which isn't always
easy out here in the open,” Bud declared.

The cow bellowed in pain as she doubled up with a
contraction. A set of tiny hooves stuck out of the swollen opening.
Another contraction caused a small black head to follow, and one
last contraction brought the calf's body easing out. Amid the
bloody fluid, the calf flopped to the ground.

“
Mercy, that was a long way to drop. Is the
calf going to be all right?” Elizabeth asked, her eyes glued to the
calf.

“
That drop is usually enough to get the calf to
breath. Watch. You can see his sides thumping.”

The cow turned around, nosed the calf and started
licking it. The calf's head came up, and it bawled a greeting to
its mother. Soon it was struggling to get on its feet. In fifteen
minutes, the calf was nudging the cow's side, working its way back
to her bag.

Elizabeth's eyes sparkled. “How wonderful was that!
Thank you for bringing me. I enjoyed witnessing that baby's
birth.”

“
I'm glad. That's the way I feel when I see
every baby born. It never gets old, and I've seen a lot of births,”
Bud shared.

By the time they sat down at the table to drink
Hover's freshly made coffee, Elizabeth's nose was running. She
pulled a tissue out of a box on the counter and sneezed repeatedly
into it then blew her nose.

Hover stopped peeling potatoes and stared at her.
“Farmer, feel her forehead to see if she is feverish. I knew no
good was going to come of her swimming in ice water and sledding
with you on a cold, windy day.”

“
We were in a sleigh not a sled,” Bud corrected
as he laid his large hand on Elizabeth's forehead and covered her
eyes. “She doesn't feel extra warm to me.”

Elizabeth sniffled. “I think I caught a little cold
is all. A few pills and some hot tea should do the trick.”

“
You better get in bed and cover up. Rest will
help,” Bud ordered.

“
I agree with Farmer,” Hover said as he put on
the tea kettle. “Tea coming right up after you get in
bed.”

For the next three days, Elizabeth didn't know which
of her caregivers was the most irritating. Bud stopped in on his
way to check the cattle. He'd immediately put his hand on her
forehead to see if she was feverish even though she protested she
was feeling better. Hover did his usual hovering, watching for
signs of improvement or decline to report to Bud the minute he came
in the door.

On the fourth morning just outside the bedroom door,
Hover and Bud conferred about whether Elizabeth should see a
doctor. She heard every word they said. She yelled at them that she
wasn't going to the doctor so stop talking about it. She was
getting better all the time. Colds were hard to get rid of
sometimes, she reasoned.

On the fifth morning, Elizabeth woke up and found she
could breathe without straining for a wheezy breath. Her throat
wasn't sore when she swallowed. Once she was up and perched on the
couch, she found she'd made it through mid morning without
sneezing. She went back to her bedroom and dressed for the rest of
the day.

Hover gave her a careful once over when she appeared
in clothes. “How do you feel?”

“
I'm fine today. No sneezing and watch. I can
breathe without wheezing.” She took a deep breath.

“
Will wonders never cease,” Hover droned
tersely.

Elizabeth pulled a chair over by the living room
window and read a book while she watched for Bud. He drove by
without even looking over to see if she was there. She had expected
a wave from him at least. She excused him with the fact he didn't
expect her to be well enough to sit by the window.

Bud stopped by on his way back from checking the
cows. By then, Elizabeth was fuming.

“
Good morning, Lizzy. Just checked the cows and
wanted to check on you,” Bud said as he stepped inside.

“
Don't good morning me. You could have asked me
to go with you to check the cows.”

Bud took his hat off and turned it in his hands.
“Well, I would have done just that if I'd known you were feeling
well enough to go with me.”

“
You should have stopped to find out, before
you zoomed on by the house,” she growled.

Bud slapped his hat back on and opened the door. “I'm
sorry I didn't stop here first. It's good to see you all better.”
As Bud backed out the screen door, he assured her, “I'll make sure
to pick you up for the next check. Have a good day, Lizzy.”

As the door shut, Hover droned loudly in the
doorway.

“
What's your problem?” Elizabeth
asked.

“
I was just wondering which side of the bed you
got up from this morning. I am willing to guess it was the wrong
side,” Hover droned.

“
You are very funny,” she snapped at
him.

“
It is a very good thing then that one of the
two of us is in good humor this morning. You sure put Farmer on the
run with your poor mood,” Hover scolded.

“
I did, didn't I? Oh dear, I don't know what
comes over me sometimes,” Elizabeth groaned.

“
From the look on his face, I would say Farmer
does not know the answer to that, either. You should apologize to
him if he is brave enough to come back for more of your bad
disposition,” Hover suggested.

Bud stopped in front of the house the next morning.
Elizabeth heard the thud of his boots as he came up the steps. He
opened the door a crack and threw his straw hat inside. “Am I
welcome this morning?”

“
Depends,” Elizabeth said.

Bud stuck his head around the open door. “On
what?”

“
If you are going to ask me to ride along with
you to check the cattle or not.”

“
You betcha. If you want to come, let's go,”
Bud said as he scooped his hat off the floor and put it back on his
head.

After the initial introduction to Bud's cattle,
Elizabeth found she enjoyed the rides. Bud went back to coming
three times a day to check for new calves. Sometimes, it was
Elizabeth who spotted the new calf and mother hidden behind a bush
or in a gully. She stayed in the pickup while Bud tagged the
calves. The mothers pawed the ground and bawled a heated, foaming
around the mouth protest when Bud manhandled the babies to put a
tag in their ear.

Sometimes, a cow stomped and bellowed until Bud
climbed back into the pickup. Other times, a cow would chase after
him until he was safely in the seat. Elizabeth wasn't about to get
out after she watched the angry mothers protecting their calves.
She rolled her window down while she watched. That was as close as
she wanted to get.