Part 5
The motor died before the panel finished falling. Vivian raised both hands, palms empty, and Daniel heard the deputy draw a sharp breath behind him.
Ada crossed the few yards to her calf. She did not hurry. Nell shifted toward her as soon as she arrived, pressing her shoulder against the larger body.
Daniel’s arm was still beside Nell’s face. He loosened his fingers and waited, unsure whether moving away would be safer than staying. His camera hung crookedly against his ribs, useless and suddenly in the way.
“Let her look,” Vivian said.
Ada touched Nell’s forehead. Her trunk passed over the rubber, then moved toward Daniel. He could hear her breathing as she examined the hand near her calf, the damp scrape on his forearm, the fabric of his sleeve.
He kept his eyes lowered. The urge to pull his arm back was so strong that his shoulder began to ache.
Ada returned to Nell and settled beside her.
Vivian let her hands fall. “We continue from this side. Give the mother all the room she wants.”
One technician stared at her.
“She’s staying there?”
“We’re not moving her. The calf needs this off, and Ada hasn’t stopped us.” Vivian glanced toward the gate. “Keep that route clear. Nobody gets between them.”
The saw remained on the ground while they checked the guards again. Ada watched each movement. When Nell shifted, her mother brought her trunk lightly across the calf’s back.
This time the technician started the motor gradually, well away from the rubber. Nell flinched at the sound but remained against Ada’s shoulder.
Daniel leaned close enough that he did not have to raise his voice.
“Stay right there, little one. That’s good.”
The first cut began.
Rubber crumbs fell onto the pad. A hot, unpleasant smell drifted up, followed by a change in the motor’s pitch as the blade met the reinforcing material. Vivian watched the guard beneath it, her gloved hand steady on the separated edge.
Nell gave a frightened cry. The technician stopped instantly.
Ada answered with a rumble and touched the calf’s head. They waited until Nell’s breathing slowed before starting again.
Daniel learned to measure the work by these pauses. There would be the noise of the saw, the pressure of Nell’s trunk against him, then quiet while Vivian examined the skin and checked the protection. A technician offered water. Tessa spoke from several yards away, where Ada could see her.
Outside the enclosure, Voss had folded his arms. He watched without calling out. The deputy stayed near the gate, leaving the approach to the truck open but keeping himself between the owner and the work.
Vivian widened the first cut a fraction at a time. Sweat gathered at her chin and fell onto the front of her shirt. She ignored it.
The cut finally opened through the full thickness.
Nell sagged. Daniel bent automatically, starting to brace his body beneath hers, and caught himself when Vivian snapped his name.
Ada moved closer. The calf found support against her mother’s side while Daniel stepped out from under the shoulder.
“Sorry,” he said, though nobody had time to answer.
They repositioned on the other side. The second cut had less clearance, and Vivian spent several minutes making enough space to protect the tissue beneath it. She changed tools, tested the angle, and changed again.
Tessa held her kerchief against her mouth. Her eyes followed Vivian’s hands.
The saw resumed in brief intervals. Nell’s trunk slipped away from Daniel’s wrist and drooped toward the ground. He saw her front knees bend.
“Vivian,” one technician said.
The veterinarian stopped cutting. “I’m watching.”
Ada touched the underside of Nell’s chin and raised the calf’s head a little. Nell blinked. Her legs straightened enough for her to remain upright against her mother.
Vivian returned to the last connected portion. The technician steadied the rubber while she worked. There was a short metallic snap, and the tension in the tire released.
“Hold it there,” Vivian said. “Don’t let it spring against her.”
Together they opened the two sections. One edge resisted where old debris had adhered to the skin; Vivian freed it carefully, then they drew the pieces away from Nell’s body.
A technician laid the first half on the ground. The second landed beside it with a flat, heavy thump.
Daniel could see the entire injured band now. It was wider and deeper in places than he had imagined, with older damaged skin beside newer sores. Tessa turned her face toward the gate and stayed that way until she could breathe evenly.
Nell stood without the tire. Her ribs expanded, stopped, then expanded farther on the next breath.
Daniel took his hand from her cheek. His fingers were trembling so badly that he pressed them against his thigh.
Ada examined the newly exposed skin. She touched one area and withdrew, then rested her trunk above it instead.
Vivian was already opening a fresh treatment kit.
“Let’s get the line secured. I want fluids running while we clean.”
The technicians moved efficiently, one managing the medication and tubing while the other helped Vivian rinse the damaged areas. Nell remained against Ada. They worked in sections, pausing whenever the calf reacted, checking her mouth and pulse between tasks.
Daniel could hear fluid pattering onto the pad. Without the motor, the small sounds of work seemed unusually clear: packaging being torn, a clamp clicking, Tessa setting the empty bucket down.
He looked at the two pieces of tire. They lay far enough apart now that a person could walk between them.
When he turned back, Nell’s knees were folding.
She dropped onto her front legs, lowering her head almost to the ground. Daniel moved aside as Vivian reached her. Ada called sharply and bent over the calf.
The veterinarian pressed the stethoscope against Nell’s chest. She listened, checked again with her fingers, and looked at the technician holding the fluid bag.
“We’re losing her pulse…”
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