Encounters with animals!

     During the early summer, which began cool with constant rain showers, Emily had experienced an unusual feeling as she approached the stable block at the bottom of her garden. It only catered for two horses at the same time, but she had always loved dairy cows & remembering when only young, driving with her parents through the countryside, she had suddenly shouted 'stop!'  Her bewildered father driving the family car at the time, jammed on the brakes looking quite worried. 
     Emily smiled to herself as she looked back to that day noticing several dairy cows grazing in a field beside the road & thinking how fascinating & pretty they looked with their large brown eyes & long lashes. She had spent a little time visiting a dairy farm when quite young & loved the smell of it, the lambs being born, fresh cut hay heady & sweet, cows & sheep roaming meadows & fields, horses grazing, flicking their tales to rid themselves of pesky insects in summer.
     Her father had looked puzzled, not knowing the reason his daughter had called out in such a forthright manner. Within no time at all, she was out of the car, dashing across to where a herd of dairy cows were peacefully grazing. Standing on the gate, talking to them, admiring their huge bodies & kindly looking eyes, they would curiously wander over & with long rasping tongues, lick her fingers. She laughed at the sight, feeling their tongues wrap around her fingers.
     As the memory of that day flooded her thoughts, Emily peering over the top of a stable door, an idea started taking root. I wonder if...she thought, well perhaps not...she continued. She was on her way to visit Ben, her long time farmer friend who lived just down the lane. She often found herself there, standing on the gate, leaning over looking for him for one reason or other, or in the farmhouse. Ben milked his herd of dairy cows twice a day, unless Andy, his farm hand was there helping out.
     The day though cool, dawned bright & the sun warming Emily's face as she noticed a bumble bee buzzing through a few flowers blooming low near the ground. The air smelled fresh, heady with early roses, the grass sweet with summer fragrance. Several birds chirped noisily nearby as they flitted across the garden, heading for the branches of an apple tree, while the early summer played havoc with the weeds in the vegetable patch. 
     As Emily was about to drive her car down to the farm, as she needed to speak to Ben about one or two matters, she glanced once again at the empty stable block. It wasn't often that her horse Apollo was housed there, as he spent most of his time at the farm.
     As the car wound its way through the country lanes, Emily's mind would not be still. She tossed a few ideas around her brain, thinking & reasoning while the car continued on down the hill.  She was pulling into Ben's driveway & suddenly smiled & knew the one main reason she was visiting Ben today. 
     The milking shed door clattered open just as she approached the end of the track leading to it. Ben was wiping his hands & looked up as Emily arrived at the gate she often stood on to chat to him.
     'Morning Em!' Ben sometimes called her this when he was having a good day. He glanced over to her as he came through the open doorway.
     'Hello Ben, all finished for now?
     'It seems so,' nodded Ben. 'Not a bad day is it?' looking up at the sky, he closed the door behind him & joined Emily on the other side of the gate.
     'I have something I want to ask you Ben,' smiling at him & frowning a little as she started biting her bottom lip.
     'Ask away then, don't keep me in suspense all day.'
     'I've been thinking.' said Emily.
     'Oh yes, & what might that be about I wonder?'
     'Well, you see, I've always liked cows as you may already have guessed, & well...'
     'Spit it out girl, I have chores to attend to' Ben smiling at her now, with a curious questioning look on his face.
     'You know that my two stables are not used that often, only on fairly rare occasions?'
     'Yeah' Ben replied slowly.
     Emily continued, 'what would you say if I suggested I rear two of your calves & keep them in one of my stables?'
     'Oh, is that all!' Ben smiled. 'Thought it was going to be something quite serious, judging by the look on your face, frowning like that! Of course you can, when would you like to start?' Ben asked.
     'Oh really!' Emily quite surprised at the ease at which it took convincing Ben. 'I thought you wouldn't be at all happy with the idea.'
     'Why wouldn't I? It's just a case of when & gathering a few things together for you. You will need some straw for bedding & extra buckets & you will soon learn how to mix their milk ration each time. Easy really. What about I bring them up tomorrow morning in the horse box after I've done the milking?'
     'Excellent!' said Emily, smiling & feeling quite relieved. 'That would be just fine Ben. I'll expect you then. There were one or two other things I wanted to mention, but now they have quite gone from my head.'
     Ben was looking amused & shaking his head slightly as he walked back to the milking parlour before starting on his chores.
     'See you then Emily' he called, disappearing through the doorway.
     'Thanks Ben,' Emily replied, walking back to her car feeling happy & light hearted about tomorrow.
     The next day thankfully, dawned bright & almost warm, as Emily stepped into the garden. She knew Ben would be arriving soon & wanted to see if all was in readiness for the two calves she would be rearing for a while. Looking in at the end stable, she was satisfied it was cleared out enough in readiness for them.
     Ah, she thought, this will be fun, I'm looking forward to my two little friends. Emily also thought a slight pang of apprehension as she had never undertaken anything quite like this before. Can't be much to it. Just use common sense, that's all. Anything I need to know, I'll ask Ben.
     Not long after, Ben brought the two calves & jumping out from the Land Rover, he carried the first of two straw bales to lay as a bed in the end stable. Then together they carefully herded the two small animals through the doorway, Emily shutting & bolting the door carefully after them.  
     'Oh, they are so pretty,' Emily said.
     'Just calves Em, nothing to get excited about!'
     'But you are use to them, these are my first & I think they're pretty, even if you don't!' Emily retorted going over to the dark brown one with a white blaze on her forehead.
     'Oh well, if you think so then, but now I just need to tell you how much to feed them & when, then I'm off. They always appear to want more than their ration, but you have to be strict with them. Being young, they just want to go on sucking after the milk has disappeared. That's natural. You'll get use to it.'
     Ben told Emily a few more details, then said he had to get back to the farm. He had supplied her with several things including two new buckets & a teat to help them get started. Also the formula with which to feed them.
     Emily was still stroking the dark brown calf with huge dark eyelashes & said to Ben. 'I'm going to call this one Sara & the other one Sam. What do you think Ben?'
     'I don't mind what you call them' he said smiling & pulling a face at Emily. 'They won't mind either, as long as they are fed regularly. If you will be okay from now on, I'd best be getting back. The vet is coming soon & I have to get Tigre in.
     'Nothing too serious I hope Ben?'
     'No, I hope not, but think he must have banged his near foreleg on something & I want to be sure everything is well with him.
     'Right then Ben, I may be down tomorrow after I've fed these two,' she said, smiling down at her new acquisitions.
     'See you Em, perhaps tomorrow,' Ben waved disappearing back to the Land Rover.
     That evening, Emily had looked forward to feeding the calves for the first time. She gathered the milk mixture & prepared it in the buckets as Ben had instructed. She shut herself in the stable & showed the calves where the milk was, coaxing them with her voice. Crouching low to Sara first, she dipped her clean fingers in the milk & offered them to Sara to suck on. The little calf soon got the idea, as Emily led her fingers to the milk in the bucket. The calf was drinking the milk very quickly & when it had gone, tried licking the bottom of the bucket.
     'That's all I'm afraid, you aren't allowed to have anymore,' she pouted. Poor little mite, now I know what Ben meant.'
     She did the same for Sam, the other calf who was anxious for its milk. 'I'm coming, I'm coming,' she smiled at Sam. 'Your turn now.'
     When Sam got to the end of her milk ration, she seemed fretful & wanted more. Suddenly she up-ended the bucket, tossing it high enough to catch Emily square on the bridge of her nose.
     'Ouch!' she said scowling at the young calf. 'That's not cricket you know! Ben said nothing about THAT.' Rubbing her nose & trying to pacify the calf at the same time with her fingers in its mouth, she added, 'I suppose I'll have to watch out for flying buckets from now on, won't I?'
     The next morning bloomed fresh with a promise of a little warmth, as the sun shone brightly through the kitchen window, flooding onto the table where Emily was finishing a late breakfast. The bridge of her nose had bled & felt sore this morning. I suppose that's all part of it, she thought, gazing out of the window & watching a robin hopping around the garden. A light breeze was sighing through the apple trees & the sun's rays were penetrating softly through the new leaves of a shrub. She had already fed the two calves & needed to see Ben this morning about something. She washed out her cup & made her way to the car.
     Pulling in to the farm, she saw Ben talking to Lizzie, her other friend who lived not far away. They had all been friends for many years.
     Getting out of the car, Emily walked over to her two friends, smiling at them when Lizzie said, 'I believe you are now the proud owner of two new calves!'
     'Not owner, Lizzie, just rearing them for a while. But I must say that although young still, they are very strong!'
     Emily related to both Lizzie & Ben, the episode with the bucket. 'And look what that little mite did to me!' she grimaced, indicating the bump on her nose where it was bruised & had bled, then added, 'well, it's not the end of the world is it? Ben did warn me about certain things, but not necessarily everything!'
     You'll soon get use to it,' said Ben.
     'What! Do you mean this is a common occurrence then? Think I'd do well to keep those buckets firmly on the floor from now on. Don't want a bloody nose each time. Perhaps I can wedge them into the corner of the stable a bit more.'
     'Hold the bucket with both hands, silly,' replied Ben'
     'How do I do that while I'm trying to coax them to drink at the same time?'
     Lizzie chipped in & said. 'Don't worry Emily, you'll be fine. It won't take much time to get things running smoothly.'
     'Hope so Lizzie. That bucket hurt when it shot up & hit me. I didn't expect it, but I'll be aware of flying buckets from now on!' she said, frowning a little.
     As the summer progressed the calves grew & before it was time for them to be returned to the farm, two children living close by had sometimes come to play with them. The calves by now being very tolerant of human company, were great with the children & very placid. Emily made sure the stable door was always shut tight & kept a close eye on the children when they were with the calves.The children sometimes sat close to them admiring their long eyelashes putting their fingers out for the calves to lick, bringing squeals of laughter.
     'You had best wash those hands before you return home,' she smiled.
     Over a couple of years Emily had reared another pair of young calves she called Jack & Jill. She had become quite an expert at looking after them & when she had her horse Apollo in the stable next door, she found that the calves were good company for him. Apollo would hang his head over the  divider built between the two stables. Stooping as low as possible, gazing at the two calves, as if communicating with them, he would pace a little from one front foot to the other.
     Some years later Sara, who had always been Emily's favourite calf, still retained a very dark brown colour, with a blaze on her forehead & Ben had told her that Sara was his most productive milking cow. She had produced many gallons of rich creamy milk & calves of her own which usually turned out like their mother, with huge brown eyes & long dark lashes.