Part 2
Daniel set the water bottle on the ground. Ada was much closer than he had imagined anything so large could be without his hearing it arrive.
Nell tried to go to her. On the second step, the tire shifted against the wound, and the calf halted with one foot still raised.
Ada moved along the divider until she reached its bent section. Her trunk passed through the opening, feeling ahead until Nell extended hers. They touched and remained that way while the calf lowered her foot.
Tessa wiped her nose on her sleeve.
“I see her come down every evening,” she whispered. “Even on the days Nell can’t walk over.”
Ada traced the side of the calf’s face. Then she reached farther through the damaged fence and placed the end of her trunk against the tire.
A long, low call came from her chest.
Nell flinched when the tip of Ada’s trunk brushed the swollen skin. Her mother withdrew at once, hovering briefly before touching her higher on the cheek.
Daniel heard Tessa draw an uneven breath beside him.
“She used to fight it,” the girl said. “She’d holler and try to get away when anything touched that spot. Now she barely does anything.”
He had no useful answer. He picked up the bottle he had set down and tightened its cap.
On the far side of the divider, Ada gathered a small bundle of grass. She worked it through the same opening and offered it to Nell. The calf took it, dropped several stems, and began to chew what remained.
“Was that tire something they gave her to play with?” Daniel asked.
Tessa nodded. “They called it enrichment.” She said the last word with an adult’s careful pronunciation. “There were three of them in the little yard for the fall event. People were taking pictures in the corn-stalk display, and Mr. Voss wanted a video of Nell crawling through the tires.”
Daniel had seen heavy tires used safely around large animals. He had also seen what happened when an object suitable for one animal was left with another, or when watching a game ended as soon as somebody got the footage they wanted.
“She went through more than once?” he asked.
“Everybody thought it was funny. Then she got her shoulders through and couldn’t back up. It slid behind her front legs.” Tessa looked down. “They tried pulling it before Ada could get over there.”
Nell chewed slowly. A blade of grass hung from the corner of her mouth.
“Nell’s screaming reached the parking area. Voss cleared the visitors out and closed the exhibit after Ada knocked two keepers over. Nobody was badly hurt, but everybody scattered.”
“And after they left?”
“Mom called Dr. Sloane. She came the next morning. Voss wouldn’t pay her, and he wouldn’t let her work. He said it wasn’t tight. Said Nell would get bigger and get herself out.”
Daniel looked at the small circumference of rubber and the growing animal inside it. He pressed his lips together until the first thing he wanted to say had passed.
A loose exhaust rattled near the visitor buildings.
Tessa rose so abruptly that water spilled from the grain measure onto her boot.
“He’s here.”
A gray pickup came around the shuttered snack counter and stopped near the barn. Its driver got out with his phone in one hand. He wore a stained cap and a short-sleeved shirt pulled tight over his stomach.
Curtis Voss saw the camera before he looked into the enclosure.
“This road belongs to me,” he called. “Take your equipment back where you came from.”
Daniel stood between him and the gate, leaving enough room for Tessa to move behind him if she wanted. She did.
“There’s an injured animal here. A veterinarian’s coming.”
Voss kept walking. “You people love showing up after the money’s gone. You get your pictures, collect your donations, and leave the feed bill for somebody else.”
“Can you unlock the gate?”
“No, I cannot unlock the gate for some stranger with a camera.” His eyes shifted to Tessa. “And what have you been telling him?”
Daniel moved half a step, bringing Voss’s attention back to him.
“Talk to me.”
“She’s got no business here.”
“She’s been bringing water to your calf.”
“She’s not on the payroll.”
Tessa’s hands began to shake. She set the measure on the ground before she dropped it.
Beyond them, Ada spread her ears a little. Nell pressed closer to the divider, and Daniel heard another scrape of rubber.
Voss jabbed his phone toward the service road. “Leave. Both of you.”
“The rescue coordinator has contacted the county,” Daniel said. “You can explain it when they get here.”
The owner stopped moving. His glance went from Daniel to the locks, then to Ada.
“You brought officials here?”
“I asked for someone who could help.”
“That cow will put somebody in the ground. Then you’ll find a way to make that my fault, too.”
Tessa stepped out from behind Daniel.
“Dangerous? She’s feeding Nell.”
Voss snapped at her to keep quiet. Her voice shook, but she faced him.
“I watched her.”
Ada’s trunk still rested through the gap against Nell’s shoulder.
A siren rose and fell somewhere on the county road. It was distant enough that Daniel could still hear the grass insects underneath it.
Voss listened. His jaw worked, and he looked toward a flatbed beside the barn. Portable stock panels stood stacked against its side.
“Those people are going to get somebody hurt,” he muttered.
Then he turned away.
Tessa caught Daniel’s shirt near the elbow. “He’s going for the gates.”
Daniel followed her gaze. “Why?”
“Last inspection, he made a chute out of them and pushed Nell behind the storage shed.”
Voss reached the stack and began pulling a panel free…
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